Just A Few Days Older

[DrDMatthews 0]

Wade stepped out of the shuttle tentatively, coming out onto the shuttle pad. The routine security detachment had been deployed, standing in front of a retinue from sickbay. He nearly knelt down and kissed the flight deck, happy as he was to be back on the Reaent. The experiences of the past few hours had been trying to say the least. When he had been transported off of the Ithica, he had found himself on the shuttle, yet it could be said that he had arrived on an entirely different shuttle than the other members of the away team.

 

To him everything had appeared to be moving much slower than it should. The conversation from the others on the shuttle was slow and low pitched, as if it had been recorded and then replayed in slow motion. Interacting with the objects around him had proven difficult, and he had feared that if he had gone anymore out of phase with the shuttle that he’d end up floating in space. Some careful tinkering with his arm band had finally allowed him to communicate with the away team, and interact with his environment, albeit with some difficulty. Once Wim had gotten the message, however, he felt confident enough to take his ease while the others worked to retrieve him. He owed a great debt of gratitude to those who had accompanied him on the mission, though he never had a doubt in his mind that they would bring him back to where he belonged.

 

The medical team arrived a few minutes before the shuttle finally settled on the pad. There were ten of them, two for each member of the away team and two more for good measure. Debbie anxiously peered through the observation window as the shuttle bay doors slowly closed and the massive hanger pressurized.

 

“Holy cow!” muttered someone behind her. “Look at that thing.”

 

The CMO made no comment. Her thoughts raced as she scrutinized the belegured craft now safely ensconced inside the shuttle bay. It looked like a relic from another century. One could only hope the living beings inside fared better than the shuttle. Pressurization completed, the bay’s portals automatically unlocked. The medical teams tore themselves away from the windows and rushed inside. The away team began their exit from the small craft just as the medical teams approached.

 

Everyone breathed a quiet sigh of relief. The four members of the away team didn’t appear to have aged all that much, if at all. Apparently, the arm bands functioned properly. Deb gave them all a rudimentary inspection as she approached. Her gaze settled on Lieutenant Wade Knight. The man was a little shaky and his complexion had an unusual greenish tinge. Her assistant followed her as she walked toward him.

 

“Welcome back, Mr. Knight,” she said calmly as she stepped up to him. “You look a bit pale,” she continued opening her tricorder for a cursory scan. “What happened over there?”

 

“Well, the short story is we got the Ithica’s computer core and got the heck out of there,” Wade explained with a shaky grin. He still wasn’t sure how much time had passed for the others while he had been trapped in his state of temporal phase. For him he had spent days on the shuttle, watching the others move at a snails pace while he attempted to repair his arm band. “I’m quite alright doctor, I’m just a few days older than I was.”

 

Debbie listened intently, glancing between Wade and her tricorder. His vitals appeared normal but he was obviously stressed....and there was something else. She wasn’t sure exactly what. The tricorder hinted at a change in metabolic rate and there were definitely anomalous readings from the Lieutenant’s cerebellum. She’d known that might occur but it was still disturbing to actually see it. They would determine the full extent of his injuries once they got him back to Sickbay.

 

The CMO glanced around at the other members of the away team. They were all undergoing similar exams. She took an extra few seconds to compare their physical appearances to Mr. Knight’s. Of them all, he seemed to have suffered the worst.

 

“Looks like the other fared a little better than you did,” remarked Debbie. “They don’t appear as green as you are. Be honest with me, did something unforeseen happen to you?”

 

Wade’s smirk turned to a frown as he watched Deb work. It was apparent that she was concerned about something. He hadn’t had much interaction with the good doctor up to now, but she hadn’t seemed to him to be the sort of person to interact. Wade nodded slowly, “Aye. I was trapped in the time bubble for an hour or so, in your time. From my perspective I spent thirteen days and five hours trapped.”

 

His statement took her aback. Debbie stared at him for a long moment as his words filtered through her brain. “Get a gurney,” she said flatly to Gracie, her assistant. She was still fixed on Wade Knight as the nurse hurried away. “How did that happen?” she asked in the same flat tone she’d just used on Gracie.

 

The chief nurse reappeared before Wade had a chance to answer. “Hop on,” invited Gracie while adjusting the height of the gurney.

 

Lieutenant Knight opened his mouth to speak but the CMO beat him to it. “That’s not a request,” she stated gently nudging the engineer toward the gurney. “I know you think you can walk out of here but I insist you ride instead.”

 

He must have realized it was resistance was futile or was too weak to try to argue. Wade Knight grudgingly laid down on the awaiting gurney. Gracie secured the restraints just enough to keep the patient from falling off during the short trip to Sickbay. Debbie glanced about one more time to insure the other members of the away team were being cared for. Satisfied that everything was under control, she silently followed the gurney out of the shuttle bay, her thoughts now totally focused on Mr. Knight....his symptoms and what, if anything, could be done to counteract them.