"Waiting Game"

[Aidan Driscol 0]

"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.