Finally An Engineer

[DrDMatthews 0]

"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.