I'd really like to find out

[MisterSmith 0]

Lieutenant Brian Smith sat at the science station, puzzled. That thing out there was impersonating the USS. Cairo, and he couldn't bare to look. He immediately tapped his comm badge.

 

"Smith to Doctor Matthews."

 

Debbie was up to her neck in patients when she heard the comm. For a moment, her heart stopped. She knew they'd taken damage but she wasn't sure exactly where. Could something have happened on the bridge? Was that why Brian was contacting her?

 

She immediately paused to answer the comm.

 

Brian had hoped the Doctor would respond, but he had no idea how she would take the rapid change in events. When she came back on the comm, he informed her of the news.

 

"This ship that we've just taken fire from....you'll never believe who the computer says it is..." He paused. "The USS. Cairo A."

 

This was not what Deb expected to hear. The news was both confusing and stunning. She stepped away from the patient she'd been working on. Fortunately, the young woman wasn't seriously injured.

 

"That's not possible," replied the CMO, lowering her voice so as not to be overheard. "We both know what happened to the Cairo." She looked down at the floor and frowned. "How did they get Cairo's transponder code?" she asked quietly. Debbie shook her head and her frown deepened. "A better question is who....who are these people and just who else's transponder codes do they have?"

 

Brian agreed very much with the Doctor. "You're guess is as good as mine. But I'd really like to find out. How's everything coming down there?"

 

Debbie turned back toward her patient but remained where she stood. "Multiple casualties," she replied, her tone serious. "Most are relatively minor but a few are life threatening. We have at least one fatality." She paused and glanced around the busy Sickbay. "I think the fatality was an engineer. But I don't know where he was when the end came. Exactly what areas of the ship were damaged in this last attack?"