Close enough to smell them

[Atragon9 0]

::Sitting in his Ready Room, he looks out at Starbase 801 as the ship orbits it, but is not docked::

 

Computer, open Personal Log, Admiral Atragon-9, Comanding Officer of the USS Manticore, password *********

[whirr, click]

 

So close and yet so far. We have come to Starbase 801, while keeping the ship on quarantine lockdown. Medical still doesn't know what exactly is happening to some of our crew, but it seems linked to an outbreak at Cold Station 9. They can tell there is a cellular transformation taking place in the epidermis of those affected, but not why. Some of Lt. Morran's mercenaries have been affected as have some of the members of the away team sent to get the Lt. and his friends. Further along still are some people - if we can still call them people - at the Station itself. I have ordered the Carthage to remain at that planetoid and quarantine itself, since they also sent people to the surface. We are sharing all the data we have with them and hope that, between our two Sickbays, we can find a solution, a cure. At this point, we are not sure how it is transmitted, but it does not seem to be affecting any of the Klingon, Romulan or Vulcans who were with the other individuals on location.

 

I have ordered people to only congregate when necessary for work reasons and for people to keep to themselves at all other times. The crew has also been instructed to report any unusual bouts of itching they notice, but that can be a self-fulfilling prophesy and I am sure that the Sickbay is dealing with a lot of people who just ... have an itch. I have reported our status to CG Yendis and she is preparing a "clean up crew" for our two locations, just in case. I understand the protocol and the necessity for containment, but it makes me uneasy knowing we might be the ones getting "cleaned up."

 

So, now, I sit alone in my Ready Room, trying to keep busy and hold myself back from visiting Sickbay. I know I can't help down there, yet I feel so helpless sitting up here! All those quotes from literature and mass media keep circling through my head, "water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink," and "So close, yet so far from paradise," and "So close a friend and yet so remote."

 

::shakes his head, as if to clear the webs away and consciously holds himself from scratching his cheek::

 

Computer, EOM, EOT

[whirr, click]