Aidan Driscol

"Caught In The Act" A joint log by Lieutenant (S.g.) Odile Condacin and Ensign Aidan Driscol A short fingernail tapped at the comm unit built into the chief of science's desk, and a sing-song voice called out to the main lab. "Oh... Ensign Driscol... would you like to stop by my office? Now?" The voice surprised Aidan just as he was settling behind his desk after returning from sickbay where he had stored the samples he had gotten from the Soltans not too long ago. He knew this didn't mean anything good; he sighed and walked over to the Chief's office. "Yes, ma'am?" "Oh, I just need some help with a solid, scientific explanation for something. Care to help?" "Yes of course." Aidan straightened up, definitely not good, not good at all. He was in trouble. She watched as he came into her office, and smiled, gesturing to the seats in front of her desk. "Please, Ensign! Have a seat!" He sat down and started to wonder if the Colonels would believe him if he said it was self defence. Or maybe he should be wondering if they would believe his chief. This was not going to be pretty. "So, how's your day going? Any new developments I should know about?" "Busy as always, Chief. Shadow and I have been fishing and I had a meeting with the Doctors in sickbay to discuss how we would proceed, and then I... erm... proceeded." He wasn't going to lie, and he knew that the chief would ask more questions, he also knew that she was very much aware of what he had been up to. But if she wasn't going to make this easy neither was he. "Mmm." She sighed, leaning her back to the chair. "Security called over a bit ago -- asked if we'd be needing any more samples. Any more samples. So in your scientific opinion, why would they be asking about more samples when... I haven't ordered any more samples?" "Gallantry, Chief." He looked straight at her and said this with a deadpan expression, he wasn't mocking her and he wouldn't want her to think he might be. Odile dropped one hand off the table out of habit to tap against the hilt of her dagger before catching herself, clasping both hands on the metal surface. "You didn't see fit to ask me before proceeding?" she asked, ignoring his cocky reply. "You had said I was clear to work with medical on this, ma'am, and that's what I did. I hear certain people want to beam the Soltans into space, so before that happens we need more samples." This was going far, but he knew he was right. "This was drastic," she snapped. "You should have known to ask me first." "With all due respect, ma'am, but you have been quite busy lately," at this he looked at the stack of paperwork on Condacin's desk. "Not so busy," she started, her voice beyond chilly, "that I can have my authority undermined without my notice. You'll have to try for me being dead on top of all this," she motioned to the collected padds, "to accomplish that." Aidan nodded. "I'm sorry, ma'am, it won't happen again." The way he said this made clear that he wasn't sorry at all but it would indeed not happen again. "What's up next for me then? Do I go off to the torture chambers or will you be happier if you get to carve your initials into my skin somewhere?" She eyed him for a moment. "Medusa might take away my knife, tempting though it is. No, I'll remember it in case it happens again, then make the necessary reprimands in your file." She smiled at her own self-control. "You don't have to thank me, either." Aidan got up. "If that's all, I shall go back to work then." "Yes. But just remember..." She put a menacing tone in her voice, for all the good it would do. "... I'm watching you, Driscol." The doors opened before him but he turned around and looked at the chief again. "I did exactly what you would have done as well. We need to find out how to cure this disease. And I think we both know that I don't need you to hold my hand, and what's more, you don't want to do that either." "When we're dealing with things like the Soltan," she stressed 'things' very heavily, "you will always let me... 'hold your hand'." "Aye ma'am." With that he turned around and left the office. Odile watched him go, and suddenly had the urge to lay her head upon her desk. So this job really was going to be harder than just extra paperwork. Not for the first time, she pitied herself.

"Black Ops" A joint log by Lieutenant Commander M'rrrett Sh'aow JoN's and Ensign Aidan Driscol Aidan walked down the corridor towards the brig, just as he was about to enter he almost ran into two goldshirts that apparently were in a hurry. He wondered about that for a short time but just shrugged it off and entered. He was on his own mission here, he needed samples, especially since it had become a possibility that the Colonels would decide to get rid of the Soltans. Even though immediate danger had passed with the two Gareem he still wanted to find a solution to all of this. Who was to say nobody else would get infected. The offices were in a state of high alert, and rightly so with an internal security breach in the form of a rather ticked off Vulcan; Lt. Commander JoNs had returned to the offices, and now stood behind Lt. Mical, observing the monitors along with the Andorian woman. The doors swooshed open in front of Aidan and he entered. Cautiously he looked around for someone, he knew he would need the clearance from the Chief of Security for this. He knew she would be easy to find, he would just have to look for a tail. Somehow he felt a bit thrilled about this, finally he was in the midst of it all and not stuck in a lab, or looking incompetent manning OPS. The feline chief's gaze immediately latched onto the blueshirt; not threatening, just curious. "Something I can do for you...Ensign?" She tried to place a name with the face. Smiling Aidan walked towards her. "Ensign Driscol, ma'am, and there actually is. I need samples of the Soltans' blood and I somehow doubt they're going to just let me take it." Inwardly he hoped the Chief wouldn't ask too many questions. Kansas flicked an ear back. 'Samples? More? I was under the impression that the initial testing and samples had been taken care of?" The feline moved a bit closer to Driscol, so as not to distract Mical with the conversation. This wouldn't be easy, after all he was dealing with someone who made a profession out of being suspicious. "Yes ma'am, but you see there are only so many tests that can be done with a sample before it becomes unusable. And as we're not closer to finding a cure we need more samples." "I mean no offense Ensign, but do you have any orders you can show me? This is a somewhat 'out of the blue' request. Better yet, let's start with this - who has made this request - sciences or medical?" Questions, but he had expected this and he was prepared. "The orders are from Doctor Levy, as the resident xeno biologist I am presently working closely together with medical, that was cleared with Chief Condacin. I have just talked to Doctors Levy and Tordai and all three of us agree that this is necessary." He stood straight and looked directly at the CSEC, he wanted to make it clear that her questions were expected and did not make him feel uncomfortable. The feline lieutenant commander nodded and purred, coming to a decision. "Fine. But I go with you Mister Driscol, and of course we are both suiting up in the bio-gear.' She pointed a paw to a small alcove off-set from the main area. "The suits are in there. They're clean, and there will be one or two in your size. I keep mine in my office." She started to head in the direction of her inner sanctum to retrieve what she needed. Aidan smiled. "One should be more than enough for me, and I would have requested your company if you hadn't offered it. Mind you, despite being a blueshirt I know how to defend myself." Well, that hadn't been too difficult now. Aidan walked over to the alcove, got a biosuit and started to put it on. When that was done he patiently waited for the Chief to return. JoNs returned a few minutes later, wearing the outrageously bright 'shoot me! I'm a target' orange protective gear. She was toting a phaser rifle as well. Her purred voice came out tinny over the helmet's comm link. "You look lovely in that suit, Chief." Aidan grinned, everybody felt uncomfortable in these suits but there was no other way to do this. "Let's do this then, shall we?" "Aye Ensign, let's do this. I will go first, stay behind me, and I will be keeping a close eye on the detainees while you get the samples you need." JoNs walked over to the brig entrance door, inputting the proper coding. The guards posted to either side of the doorway remained ramrod straight. She entered the cell block. "After you, Chief." Aidan sighed and shrugged; he wondered what he'd have to do to get a smile out of a woman on this ship. While the Chief took care of things he checked that he had everything he needed. Kansas moved cautiously into the brig, preceding the science ensign, her body language tight even through the layering of the suit. She spoke without preamble to the Soltan brig occupants. "We have a guest. He will be taking some samples from a willing volunteer. There will be no misbehaving, or I will take action." The Soltan who had spoken for the detainees before, recently ID'd as former crewmate Burne, chose that moment to speak. "You are in violation and you will be dealt with..." Kansas, loosing control for a moment, snarled. "Stow it Mister Burne or whoever the hell you call yourself now..." "Uncanny, don't you think? I'm waiting for a 'resistance is futile' myself. But don't worry, I know several ways how to kill people with my bare hands, unlike other people I don't need a knife for that. " Aidan wanted to make clear that despite only being a scientist he was not helpless. The Caitian lieutenant commander swivelled her head to look at Driscol. "...you don't need a knife for that...Ensign, do I detect a jab at your chief there?" Through her faceplate, a happy fanged smile was visible. That made him grin. "Oh, I bet she doesn't need a knife either, she just wants to look dangerous, see us blueshirts are usually underestimated." He got what he needed and moved towards one of the Soltans. "So, with your permission, may I?" "By all means. However, if they so much as twitch the wrong way - even Burne..."several emotions - fear, anger, sorrow - flitted behind the Cait's eyes. "...just, ah, duck out of the way Ensign. All it takes is one moment of contact, and I do not plan on missing." Aidan heard her voice becoming a bit emotional at that point but chose to ignore that fact. "I have no doubt you're a great marksman." He went to work and got his samples, he knew he would have to be careful with these, if the virus infected someone else before they were able to find a cure... no, he didn't allow himself that thought, it just wouldn't happen.

Now that one should be fun to play on the 'Court's bridge. I'm sure the Colonels would love it, some quality Csci and Csec bonding.

"More Revelations" A Log by Ensign Lexia Tordai and Midshipman Aidan Driscol Lexia stood in the medical office just off Main Sickbay. She had been avoiding going out into Main Sickbay for a while now; recent events had her more upset then she would prefer to admit. She laid the PADD she had been reading on the desk in front of her, sighing and rubbing her temple. Aidan had heard that the Gareem had been killed, so he felt more than reluctant to go back to sickbay. As he walked down the corridor carrying a PADD and two mugs of coffee he thought about the results his experiments had just revealed. The coffee was a peace offer to Doctor Tordai, he knew he had been annoying on purpose and as they were going to work together now he thought he might at least try to get along with her. Taking a deep breath he entered Sickbay and walked over to the office the nurse indicated when he asked for Dr Tordai She heard the chime and looked up. Walking over to the door she began preparing what she would say to Merril; he was probably concerned after she left in such a hurry. She was just putting the finishing touches on her excuse as she opened the door. She opened her mouth to speak, but as the door slid open she sighed instead. What stood before her bore no spots, was shorter, and had skin quit a bit lighter then the man she was expecting. He did, however, have coffee. "I said no coffee, Midshipman," she said turning around and heading back towards the desk. Aidan smiled and followed her in. "I know Doctor, but we both know that neither of us got enough sleep lately so I thought you might appreciate it. And I came with more than just coffee." Without invitation he sat down in the chair in front of the desk, he had done enough pacing in the science lab and was starting to feel very exhausted. "Oh, and don't think I didn't catch that sigh of disappointment." Lexia glanced at Levy's chair behind the desk, but threw away that thought as soon as it came to her. She instead sat down in the only other empty seat in the room. "Had I not intended for you to hear it, you would not have heard it," she replied dryly. "What other gifts do you bear, Driscol?" Aidan frowned and observed her for a moment. He couldn't help but wonder why Tordai was so hostile towards him. In a way it amused him, in another way he would like to get along with her. Although one might call this getting along to some extent. "Ah yes, getting right to the point as usual. Well, I conducted further experiments on the virus, we're still light-years away from a cure, but there is news; news which might be good or bad. I don't think I have to tell you how tricky a virus can be." Aidan took a sip of coffee and hoped to maybe relax the situation. On the other hand, if she wanted to do this the hard way he was ready for it. Maybe he was just a Midshipman, but he knew what he wanted and how to obtain it. Lexia rubbed her temple, her body was still adjusting to alpha shift and her recent lack of sleep was not helping any. To make matters even more complicated, she could not understand for the life of her why this scientist was trying to make friends. Most people ran after two or three brushes with her. Why was he being so persistent? She smirked, too subtle for him to notice. He was probably one of those chipper types; the ones who tried to make friends with everyone. Lexia hated those types. "No, you need not inform me how tricky a virus can be. What have you discovered?" Aidan shook his head and pushed the mug towards her. "Have some coffee; don't let your pride get into the way of receiving a rare treat. I can't imagine many people around here provide you with hot beverages." She was a tough one but he knew that in order to work well together they didn't have to like each other. "You might actually not be surprised to hear this, but this isn't your usual virus. Instead of a DNA or RNA plasmid it simply carries start and stop sequences. Which of course means it can totally screw with your DNA." Ignoring the mug she pushed on. "Of course. Which also makes it incredibly difficult to diagnose or treat." She crossed her legs trying to put the pieces together in her mind. This virus was trickier than most, and far trickier than anything she had seen in this life or any other. Fine no coffee then, suit yourself, Doc. He bit his tongue, no need to annoy her even more. "Yes, it means that the virus basically works with what is there and just changes it around a bit. I had been wondering about that, because there just didn't seem to be a way. But if you can basically switch genes on and off the possibilities are endless. Mind you, we have to keep in mind that a differentiated cell still stays the same; a Gareem liver cell is just turned into a Soltan liver cell. Which is bad enough I suppose." "So it is a form of mutation. The cells are not completely changing into other cells, but rather mutating into another form of the same cell," she was awake now. "The basics of the cell remains intact, it is simply the form it takes." "Well, one might call it that I suppose, but it's not really, no. It's basically taking advantage of the full genome. In every cell there is so much info that is not used, the virus just picks the combo it needs and switches it on, thus producing the enzymes it needs. Or, rather, the enzymes a Soltan cell would be producing." Lexia stood, genetics had never been her strong suit, and she knew that, but she was begging to get the picture. "It is using their own unused genes against them?" Aidan looked at Tordai. "Wait, let me draw up a visualization of it all" He got the PADD and showed Tordai what he meant. "As you know genes encode proteins, one gene encodes one protein, proteins are the building blocs of life... well amino acids are, but proteins are strings of amino acids..." Aidan broke off and shook his head "Sorry Doc, you know this of course. I got carried away." She crossed her arms and bit her tongue. She would address the use of Doc later, the kid was on to something; even if he was annoying. "Yes, get to the point." Impatient as always, she wouldn't ever appreciate good storytelling. "The point is that a gene is made up of triplets of bases, one triplet encodes an amino acid, and many triplets encode a protein. Now the start sequence tell the enzymes where to start "reading" the DNA to get a protein, right. So a start sequence says 'this is where the gene starts' and the stop sequence... well, needless to say. So this virus basically alters these start and stop sequences, its restriction enzymes cut out the original ones where they're not needed and 'glue' in the ones it carries where they are needed. As the genomes are fairly similar, there's surprisingly little to alter. I mean, considering humans and pigs are genetically about 90% alike, if I remember correctly." Lexia nodded, " I would imagine that Gareem and Soltans are quite similar genetically. Continue." Aidan felt that this was his chance, not to make her like him, she probably never would, but to show her that he was more than just a 'Middie'. "Yes, even Soltans and humans are similar enough. We have proof of that in the brig. So it only takes a few alterations, a couple of genes switched on and a couple switched off to make a Gareem or a human cell produce Soltan enzymes and pretty much turn the infected person into a Soltan." Lexia paced a bit, her mind getting into gear. The kid was sharp, although she would be the last to tell him that. "Now the question becomes how to reverse or prevent the virus from altering the genetic structure of the Gareem." "HAH!" Aidan wasn't able to hold that back. "Yes indeed doc, the cure, I'm afraid I can't really help you with that. You see even if we change the DNA back by re-sequencing, which is possible, it still wouldn't take care of the virus. Plus re-sequencing a whole organism with differentiated cells and such would take... longer than I dare to think through. We'll have to come up with something else." Aidan sat back and felt his headache coming back. In fact it always hit him when he thought about the cure, he just couldn't see a way to find one, not yet at least. He it was his turn to rub his temples. Lexia turned, "If we entered an infected Gareem into light stasis, it might slow the process enough for us to examine it in action without slowing the patient's systems enough to leave them undefended." Aidan frowned more because of the headache than because of what Tordai had said. "The problem is that we have no clue how to deal with the virus. The virus does not have a metabolism which we can play with, it's just a deadly breeding machine. On top of it all, we don't even know yet if it's naturally evolved or artificially created. If it was artificially created whoever did this would be plain stupid to not have invented a cure at the same time." Lexia leaned against the wall. "True," she looked up at Driscol and caught him rubbing his temples. "We should take this information to Merril and the Command team." Aidan looked at her. "Not a 'Middie's call, is it? I'm informing my Chief as soon as I get the chance; otherwise feel free to do it yourself." He started to massage his neck hoping it would release the tension some. Lexia was not sure if she caught a hint of bitterness in that sentence or not. Either way it was indeed not a midshipman's, or an ensign's for that matter, call. "Sounds good to me," she said walking back over to the desk and picking up a blank PADD to record all this on. "If there is nothing else?" "Well, actually there is." Aidan decided to try one more time to get along with the Doctor. He wasn't happy about the fact that someone else was going to get rewarded for all the work he had put in, but he knew that was just the way it was. "Oh?" Lexia asked without turning towards him. "First of all, I'm sorry if I've been a bit of a jerk, but that's just me. Look, I don't have to get along with everybody, not even people I work with, but I don't mind getting along with people either. And secondly, I have a major headache; probably due to lack of sleep and too much work, I would very much appreciate it if you could do something about it." Lexia was taken a bit aback at his bluntness; she opened her mouth then closed it. Taking a slow breath she spoke, "First, I believe a working relationship does not require people to like each other. I also do not mind 'getting along' with people either; I just tend to not. Secondly..." she took a pause, a breath, and picked up a tricorder, "secondly you need sleep." She began to scanning him as she continued. "The human body can only function so long without sleep, and there is no medical substitute." She walked to the replicator and punched a few buttons. "However, this should counteract some of the pain," she said as she placed the hypo from the replicator to his skin and pulled the trigger. Aidan smiled. "Thank you Doctor, I needed that. And yes, I should sleep and I probably will once I've been to the gym. As far as the getting along thing goes, it doesn't hurt to be nice, at least not as much as you seem to think. Insult me as much as you like, I haven't given up on you yet, Doc." Aidan got up and walked towards the door "Well, either way, thank you. I think I'll be seeing you sooner than you'd like." The kid was blunt, she would give him that. "Driscol," Aidan stopped and turned around. "Yes Doctor Tordai?" He made a point of addressing her correctly this time. Lexia leaned back on the desk and glanced at the coffee mug. When she spoke, her tone had softened a fraction...a big fraction for Lexia Tordai. "When I was young, my father was obsessed with coffee. He used to say it was the best thing the humans ever gave the galaxy. Our breakfast table was never without a pot," she paused for a moment, the barest hint of a smile drifting across her red lips, "I drank it all through med school and the Academy." She paused for a moment and looked at him, as if about to relinquish a deep dark secret. "I hate coffee; always have, always will. I swore it off after the Academy. I prefer tea." Aidan was stunned and didn't know what to say. The usually so self confident Midshipman was actually speechless for a moment but then recovered and said seriously. "I'll keep that in mind for next time." He didn't want to push his luck so he turned and left the office inwardly smiling. He'd known she could be nice. The door swished shut as the Midshipman exited. Lexia stood there for a moment, and then returned to work.

"Revelations" A Log by Midshipman Aidan Driscol After the research he and Shadow had conducted Aidan went into the lab and checked on his experiments on the virus. The results were due soon and he hoped he would have something to show for. He started to pace in front of the experiments. When he realised what he was doing he chuckled, basically he was doing the same he used to do with his various ex girlfriends when they couldn't get ready in time. It had always been five more minutes to quickly change the shoes which then had led to another 5 more minutes because now the shirt didn't fit with the shoes anymore. He was patient, he just hated waiting for things when there were deadlines to meet or appointments to keep. And he sure had done a lot of pacing lately. In a corner an apparatus started to beep which meant he would finally be able to obtain accurate readings and interpret them accordingly. Aidan walked over to the beeping apparatus and tapped away on its console firstly to turn off that annoying beeping and secondly to draw up the readings on the monitor. When he studied the results he felt how his heart started to beat faster right after skipping a beat and he got a strange feeling in his stomach. The implications of what he saw before him were... well, he didn't quite know what they were or would turn out to be. It all depended on how quickly they could find a cure. But he now had the answer to the question how the virus changed the DNA of the organism it infected. Usually a virus would carry its own DNA or RNA plasmid which it then 'injected' into a cell and either have it replicated by the cell's enzymes immediately until the cell basically burst and released heaps of virus offspring. Or it injected its genetic material and 'inserted' it in the host cell's DNA where it remained dormant and got replicated along with everything else during cell divisions until at some point the virus decided it was time to strike and it started replicating its DNA again until the cell burst. Either way, the genome wasn't really altered and the host cells had to die sooner or later. This virus however didn't carry a plasmid it simply carried short strands of DNA. Just to be 100% certain Aidan looked up what these short segments of DNA encoded. There were five different segments which occurred over and over again. He had no doubt what two of them were. One was a start sequence which basically was the 'on' switch for genes and the other was a stop sequence, the 'off' switch. That's how the enzymes 'reading' the DNA for protein synthesis knew where to start and where to stop reading. And when Aidan saw what the other sequences encoded it all fell into place. They encoded restriction enzymes which are used in the cell to 'cut' DNA strands and a different kind of enzyme that 'glues' it back together. Aidan got an empty PADD and quickly noted down all his findings and then put the same information on three more PADDs. One he would keep, one would go to the Doc, one to the Chief and one to the Colonels. He would first go to sickbay and share his results with Doctor Tordai and then try to get a hold of Chief Condacin who would then inform the Colonels. As soon as he was done he rushed out of Science and stopped shortly at the nearest replicator on his way to sickbay. She had said no coffee but maybe she'd change her mind once a steaming mug was standing in front of her... (to be continued)

"Seekers at Work" A Log by Shadow and Midshipman Aidan Driscol Reaching into the Merril's hand was an interesting experience for Shadow, as he had never dared to reach into a biological for fear of injuring it, perhaps even killing it. So when the Merril invited him to try, he was both excited and fearful. His greatest challenge in doing so was not the reaching in, but in estimating the amount of energy a biological could endure as he did the "reaching". So he reduced the amount of energy in what looked like his own hand and he reached in. What he found was puzzling. As the Merril was not alarmed and seemed to endure the examination without injury, Shadow investigated what he presumed were biological tissues - bones, sinews, muscles, blood, neurons (the most easily recognizable), but when it came to differentiating among them he found he had no knowledge base. However, as the Merril invited him to investigate the Gareem patient, he did so. He found the same problem. Just as a blind person is asked to examine various objects to assess their usage without having any knowledge of them, so Shadow was being asked to examine totally foreign objects. He felt many things - but could not differentiate. Which was bone? Which was muscle? And more importantly, which was supposed to be there and which was not - specifically, the virus. Realizing his deficiency, he turned to the Driscol, also a Seeker, to teach him these things. Aidan looked up at Shadow as they walked into the science lab after being more or less thrown out of sickbay. "What is it? You've been looking contemplative ever since you asked me to help you." "I am a Seeker. As a Seeker I should know many things. But in your dimension there is much that puzzles me. I am distressed because, as energy, I am immune to this virus of which you speak, yet I am powerless to detect it or manipulate it." Aidan shook his head and sat down at a desk. "Shadow, you surprise me." Shadow stared, confused. "Well, you call yourself a Seeker but you expect to be a... hmm... for want of a better term, a Knower." Aidan smiled, he liked Shadow, helped him to think outside the box and he was very pleasant to talk to. "A Knower. That is what a Seeker seeks to do. To know. There is indeed much for me to learn to become a Knower in your universe." Aidan got up and shook his head. "Of course we seek to know, but it's the process of seeking that provides the thrill, isn't it?" He went over to the sample storage drawers and thought about what they should start with first. Shadow watched with interest. If he could learn, then he could help. He was bonding with the Driscol, and believed the bond would be a good one. "So Shadow, what would you like to start with? Basic life forms? Some bacterium maybe? Or something more complicated?" He stood there, stunned. Not quite knowing what to answer, he said nothing. Aidan looked at Shadow. "What's the problem?" After another minute, Shadow answered, "Let us begin where I can do the best work for the Merril. Teach me to know a virus and teach me the basis of your life forms, what you call the DNA.” Aidan frowned. "Well, I don't know how well that will work, as a virus contains DNA, although... you might be onto something." Aidan got out a sample of DNA and a sample of a harmless virus and presented them to Shadow. "There you go." Shadow looked at Aidan, then eyed the samples. "I will not harm these if I introduce my energy?" Aidan shook his head and chuckled. "Even if you do, neither is alive, if you destroy them we have back up, I wouldn't present you with anything unique, at least not at first." His fears set aside, Shadow reached into the samples. They were complicated, but no more complicated than anything else he had so far encountered in this universe. After a while he was able to formulate an algorithm of sorts that would help him distinguish among different strands and structures. While investigating, he looked to Aidan, "Perhaps if you could furnish this within a humanoid tissue sample I could attempt to find and assess it." "Well, we have some infected tissue samples, for sure, as far as DNA goes the samples will provide you with that." Aidan didn't dare to ask whether it had worked or not but just went and got a suitable sample and put it on the desk on front of Shadow. Needless to say, it was an interesting investigation for Shadow. He was beginning to realize how valuable he could be to these beings. He was a Seeker - what these beings called a "scientist" - and he was able to investigate things that were beyond the scope of their investigations. He could investigate things that were dangerous for them. It took him some time, but he soon could differentiate among various strands of DNA, healthy strands and damaged strands, and he felt he could detect the virus. To test his theory he accessed a console and manufactured an illustration of what he was "seeing" with his energy. "Is this what you are looking for?" he asked. Aidan took a look at what Shadow was seeing and he frowned. "Well, it certainly does help, but I can't tell you if it helps at this point, because I'm still waiting for the test results which should provide us with more information on the virus. But this is still... amazing to say the least." Shadow could tell it would take more investigation, but at least he knew he was on the right track. For the first time he felt he had accomplished something that would assist these beings, and in so doing he felt he could honestly say he was becoming a contributing member of the crew. Then a thought occurred to him that had never occurred before. He had always thought of the Agincourt and her crew as his captors, but the bonds were forming, much like they formed among his own. The crew, in the bonding, were becoming his co-workers. They were his friends.

"A Day in the Life of a Xeno-biologist" A log by Midshipman Aidan Driscol After returning from sickbay Aidan had sat down and tried to make sense of the results the blood samples had come up with. Something was indeed changing the Gareem DNA into Soltan DNA. And not only that one of their former crew members now seemed to be in the brig as a Soltan. When Captain Merill had compared the DNA samples the mitochondria DNA showed a 75% match. Which means he definitely was their lost crewman. Aidan's head was pounding, he hadn't had enough sleep or food and thinking about all of this made his head spin. This was pretty much inconceivable, but he knew that the Colonels would not be happy with that answer so he'd better make it conceivable somehow. Otherwise he'd have another two female crew members at his throat plus his Chief. He put his head on the console in front of him and closed his eyes for a moment. After another 10 minutes of just sitting there and thinking things through he still couldn't make sense of it all. So he decided to just take notes of all of the questions that arose. That was a technique he had relied on during his Academy days, because he had found out that he didn't need to study much if he was just able to answer the questions that arose during a specific task. That's what xeno-biology was all about explaining the inexplicable. So how in the universe could a virus change the DNA like that? The usual way by inserting its own DNA or RNA plasmid was impossible, it didn't explain how the cells survived and how they suddenly turned into something completely different. How could the virus know what kind of cell it was infecting? Differentiated cells could never become anything else, they might produce different proteins but at the end of the day a liver cell would still be a liver cell and a neuron would still be a neuron. So that would mean... Aidan jumped up and quickly accessed the computer files on basic human, Gareem and Soltan physiology and genetics. The genetics, even though vastly different at the first glance was similar enough. At least the mechanisms were the same. He had just looked in the wrong direction. Yes! He had finally found an answer. It was all in the genes themselves and not in the virus. At least this was an answer to parts of his problem. This would explain how Gareem as well as humans got infected. It also meant they would have to be careful or they'd soon be a Soltan ship instead of a Starfleet ship. He would have to relay his results to medical immediately. They could confirm his findings and hopefully help with the answers to the many questions that still remained. So they could find a cure. He would also have to inform the Chief, the Colonels had to know about this. Aidan took a deep breath as he sat down to send his information over to sickbay. He wouldn't get sleep for quite a while because the report for the Chief had to be finished as soon as possible. The gym, sleep and food would have to wait for another few hours.

"Waiting Game" A log by Midshipman Aidan Driscol Aidan had retreated to the science lab and was waiting for some test results. The past few hours had been quite eventful. He had met yet another female crew member who was ready to jump at his throat for no apparent reason. Wondering why so many of them seemed to be like that he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. The good doctor had been the least of his problems though. As they didn't have any reference data on the Gareem and the Soltan in the computer's databanks he had set out to get blood samples and scans of both. The Gareem woman had been nice and pleasant to talk to and he had been able to retrieve quite a bit of information about this mysterious "infection" and had duly noted everything on a PADD. Getting a sample from the Soltans, however, had proved to be a tad more difficult. They were not willing to cooperate and he had needed the assistance of two security officers to get what he needed quite urgently if he wanted to find a way to help the infected Gareem. Aidan had returned triumphantly and had immediately set out to analyse the samples and the scans. Once he had some results he would get back together with Dr Tordai to discuss their findings. As far as he could tell, without having the final results something was slowly transforming the Gareem's DNA into Soltan DNA. How this was possible he didn't know yet but he intended to find out. In a way all of this reminded him of the Borg. Wasn't this also a form of assimilation? At this thought he sighed and rubbed his temples as he felt a headache coming. There was no use in speculating about all this without having anything to show for. So far there was no way of telling whether this was a planned or an accidental occurrence. When he looked at the chronometer to check how much time he had until the tests had finished he saw that he'd still be waiting for quite some time. He got up to find a replicator to get some coffee. Science could be slow and tedious work. Everybody expected scientists to have answers ready when in reality most of the time it was not about having them ready but about finding them. And it wasn't always easy to find an answer withing a matter of hours to something that had evolved over millions of years. This was especially true for xeno biology because a lot of the time you came across things you had never seen before and never even dared to imagine existed. He reached the replicator: "Coffee, black." As he took out his coffee he looked at the replicator and wished that it would also give answers. He then went back to his desk to put some information on the Soltans and the Gareem on file in the computer's databank, that way they would be better prepared next time. Slowly sipping his coffee he thought about how much he hated to wait, especially when people's lives where at stake. How frustrating, he knew that this build up in frustration meant at least an hour in the gym. The thought made him grin. Maybe he would ask the Chief to come along to find out whether her reputation was justified.