P.O.V.

[T'aral 0]

T’Aral sat in the medical bay office awaiting the arrival of the Captain. It was the worst part of her condition: the fact that complications were making her performance in stressful situations unreliable. This meant sending subordinates, which meant taking in second-hand information. Such information relied upon the observations of others as well as their own recollections. Even with the best of intentions, error was possible.

 

Heading straight for the medical bay after hitching a ride on one of the SAR shuttles, Captain Calestorm was still clad in tactical vest and holstered phaser, smelling faintly of sweat and the seasonal flowers in bloom on Osiris Prime. “Crewman”, she spoke kindly yet directly to a passing medical technician, effectively getting the man’s attention, “Where’s Doctor T’Aral?”

 

“I believe she’s in her office, Captain.” Yeoman Briggs gestured to the medical office. “She’s almost always in there.” Seeing the Captain across the bay, Ensign Khora stepped swiftly into the office to advise T’Aral of Cale’s arrival. T’Aral nodded softly in appreciation, grateful for the chance to solidify her composure before the Captain entered.

 

Nodding thanks to Briggs, Calestorm walked the short distance to the CMO’s office; she hovered in the entryway and asked. “How ya feelin’ Doctor?”

 

“I am relatively unimpaired. My condition is proceeding normally.” She looked up to Cale, then stood up while smoothly sweeping up a tricorder.. “What about you, Captain? You had a rather close encounter. Are you injured in any way? How is your recovery time?” She began scans to see how well Cale’s body had recovered from the exertion.

 

Medical scanners, deploy! The captain allowed a slight grin. “Doc, I spend most of my time running through the flora of Osiris Prime being chased by previously undiscovered creatures that can suck the salt from your body. With that said, I’ll be fine after a shower and some chow.”

 

T’Aral nodded as her tricorder bore evidence which concurred with Cale’s self-assessment. “It is good to see that you keep yourself in relatively excellent health. Given the frequency and intensity of serious situations that you encounter, remaining fit is essential.”

 

The Captain proceeded to inform the Doctor of the events of the afternoon. “I had ordered my escort back to camp. I wanted to survey the perimeter on my own. Next thing I knew, I was staring across a clearing at the Salt creature. Whether it had purposely been tracking me, ah’ve no idea.”

 

Leaning casually against the bulkhead, Cale crossed her arms over her chest and continued to tell the tale. “The creature gave chase. I cleared the treeline with the Salt Vampire doing so a few seconds later. Marine and Security teams maintained orders and stunned the creat…the being.” Cale had no idea if Salty was a creature or a being. What she did know from the science and medical speculation was there was a sort of intelligence at work along with the baser predator instincts. She figured it was a safe bet to call the thing both creature or being.

 

T’Aral’s brow furrowed. “I do not believe I need to remind you that a staff officer in a potentially hostile environment is supposed to have security escort at all time.” Cale’s independent nature often left her with a certain level of frustration. “I am also concerned with the fact that my request to pursue a peaceful encounter with the creature was not taken under stronger advisement. Capturing the creature in a hostile manner makes the situation far more difficult to resolve.”

 

Crash opened her mouth to comment on the staff officer observation, decided against it and snapped her mouth shut. Choose your battles. Clearing her throat, she directly addressed the second aspect of the discussion instead. “Doctor, nothing would have pleased me more to have the encounter be less hectic. But when a large, bipedal creature proceeds to take on a squad of my Marines and Security, instincts besides the point?” Cale shook her head in the negative. “No. Unacceptable. Now that we maintain custody of the creature, mebbe it will expose the intelligence that Lieutenant Asher hinted at.”

 

T’Aral set down her tricorder. “Captain: I am not objecting to how you responded to the situation you found yourself in. I am objecting to the events that lead up to that situation. If you had taken action on my suggestions it is quite likely that you would not have found yourself in a critical encounter, and we may have been able to encounter the creature in a much less intense manner.

 

“It is, however, quite curious: the subject’s behavior has proven most illogical. You should not have been able to surprise it, and in such a state of surprise it should have camouflaged itself to appear as a security officer or a member of the survey team.” T’Aral’s brow furrowed. “There is no logic to the creature’s actions at all.”

 

Cale gave a wry grin. “Doc, I believe I was the one surprised. But, that’s besides the point.”

 

T’Aral’s eyebrow twitched. “I disagree, Captain. In an analysis of the creature’s state of mind, a complete analysis of its behavior is critical. It should not have allowed you to see it in its natural state.” She pondered the possibilities. “The creature is clearly in a more desperate condition than was previously presumed. What has become of it, Captain?”

 

“The creature is currently under transport to the ship and will be held in the brig. Medical and Science staff are to have access to insure health and safety. Security will maintain a watch and myself and the Commander have left orders for Salty to remain under light to moderate sedation to avoid incident.”

 

T’Aral sighed, weakened by all she was encountering. “Captain: while I agree with strict and thorough security measures, I must log my objections to sedation of the creature now that it is contained. If you would examine the situation from the subject’s point of view, I believe you will agree that we have done everything we can to evoke a hostile response from it. We have hunted it, shot it, captured it, and restrained it while drugging it. If you were similarly treated, I believe that you would find your situation most unpleasant and thus seek to retaliate against your captors by any and all means at your disposal.” She looked downward before continuing. “Negotiation … perhaps even civil communication may now be impossible.”

 

Crash sucked on her teeth, the silent gesture twisting her mouth as she considered options. The ‘Salt Vampire’ was now in their custody. In controlled circumstances, could negotiation even be attempted? The creature had demonstrated a predator intelligence, but would it respond to civil communication? Her tone neutral but her facial expression stern as she replied. “Hostile has been the norm throughout this situation. This creature for whatever reason is dumped on Osiris Prime by a cut-rate transport company with a affable rogue as CEO.”

 

The captain then paused for a moment and gathered her thoughts. Cale referred to one Harcourt Fenton Mudd, of Mudds Transport Incorporated. It seemed Mr. Mudd had gotten into other enterprises since his liberation from the Rura Penthe gulag. Oh yes, that rascal had handed himself on the radar of the First Threat Response program with this little air-mail incident...but that was another matter to be dealt with at a later date. And Calestorm intended to highlight that suggestion in her Osiris Prime after action report to Admiral Coyote.

 

For now, the matter at hand was the Salt Vampire and she continued with her initial line of thought. “Putting aside the how or why Salty ended up on Osiris Prime, it proceeds to attack an unsuspecting survey team and the evidence we have ascertained from eyewitness statements indicate that the team did nothing to provoke this...salt sucker being.”

 

T’Aral remained unmoved. “Taken from a different point of view: it was abandoned in an environment that it is not suited to, and proceeds to use its natural abilities to survive by preying on the same race of creatures which placed it in such a hostile environment in the first place.” She eased herself back into her chair. “The question of ‘hostility’ must be examined from all perspectives.”

 

The captain continued to pace slightly within the confines of the office, hands on hips. She muttered quietly to herself regarding ‘always getting the weird missions’ and San Francisco Command ‘needing a boot’ in a certain orifice.

 

An eyebrow cocked softly while T’Aral kept herself from smiling. “ ‘Wierd’ is merely another word for that which has not been encountered before. We are, after all, border patrol.”

 

The older woman’s attention winged back to the chief medical officer, her gaze critical as if appraising TAral, one eyebrow raised. With a slow smile, Calestorm agreed with a, “This is true.” The smile dropped as she then considered other matters.

 

“Doctor, you’ve permission to attempt speaking with this creature, being, whatever. Ah want the session completely recorded and logged, I want protection at all times. In your condition, I’d prefer you not be directly involved. Have one of your right hand people to take charge of the effort and in addition I want Sciences drawn on as support, ah’d say Doctor Maturin would be a likely candidate.” The directives were blunt and she meant business. There was no room for discussion, it was what it was.

 

T’Aral nodded. It was an improvement: far from ideal, but still an improvement. “Actually, Captain, an initial analysis suggests that I may be an almost ideal candidate. My blood chemistry varies from the human norm, which should offer me some protection from the creature’s attack. Additionally: I have no intention of putting myself in harm’s way.”

 

“Fine. If this thing can in fact project mentally? Ah want safeties in play for that as well. And ah do not want any mind melding, do you understand me?” Cale had leaned slightly over the desk and towards the Doctor as she mentioned the concept of melding, palms flat on the surface. Her movements weren’t threatening, but she definitely projected that she expected the non-meld order to be followed to the letter.

 

“Captain: your concern is appropriate, but unnecessary. I intent to interview the creature from the far side of the brig cell restraint field with one attendant and two security officers present at all times. There will be no opportunity for physical contact, and three others will always be present to observe any changes in behavior.” T’Aral pondered the situation. “As a precaution, I would suggest deactivating the local command pad for the security field and retaining full control of the defense screen at the brig’s main security desk … just in case the creature is capable of projecting some form of suggestion.”

 

She paused for a final appraising look at the Chief Medico and then gave a curt nod of grudging agreement; trust was a two-way street or say they said, “Acceptable and go for it, Doc. Myself and Commande. Wesley are to be given an outline of the communication plans and an after action report on the results. You’ve forty eight hours to conduct your...interview? Then we’ll arrive at Starbase Harrington to offload the creature to Professor Crater.”