"Outbreak"

[STSF Seiben 0]

“Outbreak”

 

Warning: Graphic medical details and disease symptoms are depicted in the log. Reader discretion is advised – especially if you just ate.

 

 

 

 

Estefan, Eastern Continent, Hydra IV - It started small, but quickly snowballed into something uncontrollable. Dr. Alicia Hermitage wiped her brow and looked up at a medical team bringing in about a dozen more patients. “Put them in the back corner there” she said, pointing at a back wall of the hospital ward.

 

The ward was fairly large by eastern standards, but it was packed well past capacity with sick and dying patients. At last count, there were well over a hundred, but Alicia estimated that a further thirty or forty came in since then. After adjusting her breathing mask, and surgical gloves, she called out to a young nurse.

 

“Martha, I’d like you to check the new patients. Assess their condition and have them placed in the appropriate area,” she ordered. Martha nodded her acknowledgement and headed to the back corner where the new patients were placed.

 

As was the case with most of the patients, their skin was covered with large swollen pus filled lesions throughout their bodies. Martha cast a sorrowful look at the patients. “The disease is in fairly advanced stages. I don’t know if there’s much we can do for them,” she said. “All right, put them in the Intensive Care section” Alicia hollered back.

 

Visibly tired after working for over twelve hours, Alicia took a long swig of her energy drink. Though she and her medical team had treated hundreds of people today, hundreds more keep coming in every day. She also knew that this was the case in hospitals all around Estefan and other major cities and towns in the eastern continent.

 

Though the outlook looked bleak, Alicia still considered herself fairly lucky. As the capitol and largest city in the eastern hemisphere, her hospital in the heart of the city was better prepared and possessed more sophisticated equipment than in other smaller towns. She could only imagine how bad it was in smaller cities and towns, which didn’t have the larger facilities and modern equipment that she had.

 

But still, due to sheer number of patients coming in, many of whom came from smaller areas across the continent to receive better treatment, she and her team were stretched to the max. It didn’t help at all that the planet’s economy was still recovering from the civil war, particularly here in Estefan.

 

Resources and medicine stocks were stretched pretty thin. If this keeps up, she thought, looking at more techs bringing in more people, they probably would run out of room and/or medicine within two or three days. Alicia looked down at her patient and injected him with a hypo to help ease his pain. His moaning eventually subsided as he drifted into sleep.

 

Her superiors in the Ministry of Health kept reassuring her that the Federation was sending aid, but so far, little has come. She knew that they couldn’t rely too much on the ruling government in Hydrus, the planet’s capitol. With so many millions affected, the central government lacked the resources to effectively distribute aid to all affected areas in the east. The outbreak was causing the already credit-strapped government further into the red.

 

 

* * * *

 

HYDRUS - It was another bright and beautiful day in the capitol, but it little to brighten the mood in the Presidential Palace. Inside the grand marble hallways of the palace, President David Stein walked briskly down a large golden spiralling staircase. On the wall behind, a large golden backlit Hydra stood prominently. From ancient Greek mythology, the Hydra sea serpent was the origin of the planet’s name and was of course, adopted as the national symbol.

 

Stein paid it no mind as he walked down the staircase accompanied by his advisors informing him on the latest in the east. “Any word from Starfleet? When are they sending more supplies and assistance?” He asked. A man of great pride, it pained him inside to have to resort to petty begging for help from the Federation. But, he had little choice.

 

“We heard from Admiral Miller yesterday” replied one of his advisors. “They’ve sent in two of their ships to provide aid and medical supplies. They should arrive in a few days. Apparently, they’re sending in one of their larger Excelsior class ships to act as a deterrent against pirates”

 

Stein said nothing but nodded. Ever since the civil war, rouge mercenaries and pirates still plagued the area even after the war ended. As much of the government tried to defeat them, they lacked the ships and resources to fully wipe them from the area. Over the years, the pirates have grown bolder and think nothing of raiding freighters and ships bringing in aid to the planet, only to resell the same stolen goods in the black market at very inflated prices.

 

Stein appeared slightly relieved that the Federation was sending one of their big new Excelsior class ships. “These pirates are pretty audacious, but they’ll be wise to think twice against tangling with a ship of the line” he mused to himself. “Precisely what Starfleet thinks” replied his Defense Minister “the pirates still don’t have the resources or firepower to take on a Miranda class, let alone an Excelsior. Their biggest mother ships are barely bigger than an Oberth class. Hopefully, that’ll allow more freighters to come in with our medical supplies and equipment” said the president.

 

President Stein looked to the health minister, a short balding man walking beside the president. “Mr. Constanza, is there any progress on determining what we’re dealing with? And can you confirm that the outbreak is still contained to the eastern half? I don’t need to tell you how imperative it is, that the outbreak is contained to the east,” Stein said sternly.

 

“Well, I’m afraid our scientists don’t have much progress, sir. We know it started in Estefan six months ago, then quickly spread to all areas in the east. We believe the original carrier contracted it from another planet he was visiting, but we haven’t got far in finding out more.” Constanza didn’t want to say that the relatively poor labs the planet possessed hampered his research.

 

This wasn’t Starfleet Medical in San Francisco. Most of the medical research equipment and methods used were older than most of the researchers themselves. “But, I can tell you that there has been no reported outbreaks here in the west. The Ministry of Transportation immediately suspended all flights and transports from the east. Luckily, they’ve acted quick enough to contain the outbreak”

 

“But, I don’t know how much longer that’ll be” frowned Stein. “This Federation teams their sending better be good. Contact Starfleet again and see if they can get here any quicker. Did I ever mention how much I detest all this petty grovelling to the Federation?” Stern asked sarcastically.