Mending a kingfisher's wings

Posted on Fri Aug 9th, 2019 @ 11:31pm by Petty Officer 2nd Class Ila Dedjoy & Death & Kodria Mizu & Lieutenant Commander Thex sh'Zoarhi & Lieutenant Asa Dael & Lieutenant JG Thav Th'ovohrot & Petty Officer 2nd Class 'Big Ethel' Jablonski
Edited on on Sun Sep 1st, 2019 @ 3:35pm

Mission: Mudd on the Souls of Mankind
Location: USS Hera, Deck 12, Sickbay
Timeline: 2396

Thex shook her head slightly as she took the new uniform from the decon personal which she quickly changed into. She dismissed the Tellarite who, like her, had been given an all-clear. There was no sign of contamination from the alien bugs, for which Thex was extremely grateful. The last thing she needed was an alien sickness from another timeline spreading on the ship.

Now she was heading to the security brig where the bugs were being held. She had also decided to conduct the examination of the EVA suits in the security office's small lab.

She nodded to the few security personnel still in the center. Most were doing a sweep of the ship in case anyone else had been brought aboard.

Stepping into the brig she gave a polite smile to Thav and Jablonski. "Well done you two. Did we take any casualties getting them in here?" She asked looking at the three cells. Two had full bugs in them though the other was still in it's EVA suit constantly salmming into the forcefield.

"Beaming tends not to inflict casualties ma'am," Jablonski pointed out. "No loss of personnel and no injuries to report. But what do we do with them now?" Chucking a thumb at the grotesque alien bugs who were slamming themselves against the forcefields, the beefy security gal who towered over the two Andorians didn't seem to notice that the alien critters were so vehemently bent on escape, as she had absolute faith in the brig's security.

"Maybe when the timeline is fixed they'll be dragged back to their own time?" Thav suggested as he looked at the alien bugs.

"Perhaps," Thex added as the brig small lab door opened, and Lieutenant Dael and the ship’s Entomology expert, Ensign Dumas Saad entered.

"Ah, Commander, we've just finished the examination of the EVA suits and fluids on the uniforms. From what we've been able to determine, they were originally human. They appear to have been exposed to some sort of compound, likely a fluid, that alters the DNA into that of the specimens we have in the brig.” As one of the creatures hammered on the forcefield, the scientist flinched away from the angry oversized insect. “If mine and Doctor Dael’s findings are accurate, it may be possible to revert them to their original form using the transporter. Do you concur, Doctor?" The Betazoid ensign said to Asa.

"Yes, of course," Asa chirped brightly. "We will need to reconfigure the transporter to ignore any corrupted DNA, but the sequencing should be similar to how we were able to transport Commander Paris safely, well mostly safely, prior to her own temporal-spatial stability."

Thex ran her fingers through her hair as she thought about it. This was probably breaking half a dozen rules of the prime directive and temporal violations. On the other hand, these were Starfleet personnel even if they were from a different time and universe. She had no idea if, when the timeline was fixed, they'd be sucked back to their own time and dimension, or if these three would be stuck here forever.

Noting everyone was looking at her expectantly, the andorian took a slight breath as she made her decision. Okay, let's do this. Doctor Asa, can you have a trauma team down here, as we have no idea what could happen to them," the andorian said with the plan coming into her head. She'd need the section 31 transporter for this.

"Of course, I will have the team ready and in location in three minutes," Dael responded.

It didn't take long before the andorian was in the section 31 transporter. She listened to a few other problems her engineering teams had found. Deck twenty four’s computers were now using third century Japanese as the default language and deck twenty lights were now only running at very low setting even at maximum brightness. Nothing her teams wouldn't be able to fix within a few minutes and few reboots of minor systems.

Her fingers danced over the transporter as she started it up and locked on to the alien bug from another time. She could do this.

Down in the holding bay, Thav’s antennae twitched as the familiar sound of the transporter filled the room. He barely understood the science of this, but if anyone could do it, it was his mate. Though she wouldn't believe him, she was handling herself very well, given the current circumstances.

The first bug began to screech like a beast from the deepest depths of hell itself as it thrashed against the shield in some desperate attempt at escaping it's confinement. It beat with all of it strength before slowly the bangs got quieter as it's image morphed and took on the appearance of something almost as alien.

What formed in the cell was clearly a human female though her appearance was just as alien. Her skin was so white Thav thought for a second she must have been albino though that was dismissed when he saw her eyes staring at him. For a second, they were completely black until every time she blinked they seemed to morph into a different colour. She fell to the floor seemingly out cold as the andorian approached her.
"Jablonski, keep the med team covered," he said as he used the brigs site to site transporter to transport the EVA clad medteam into the cell. The medtech ran a scanner over the unconscious woman, although even she was puzzled by the results. "The subject appears to have been biologically altered to survive underwater, as well as in an oxygen environment. She appears to be stable, but I'd like to get her down to the medical bay."

"Sounds like tampering similar to that we saw after the Worldship," Asa mused.

Thav nodded as he left the medical team to do their job. The second bug had been untransformed and it's inhabited was again a human female with very similar looks to the first one. The last one was an even stranger as when the light from the transporter vanished, the figure that had been in the EVA suit was something no one had expected to be within the metal and plastic. It was a Xindi reptilian.

"Well, that's unexpected." The master at arms said aloud as he let the medtechs do their thing.

Thex had beamed herself back to the brig. She couldn't imagine what the strange humanoid the medtechs were checking had had been through. She gave the med techs a reassuring pat on the shoulder before heading past. Just as she was about to pass the loop in the corridor there was a scream that she had definitely not heard before coming from behind her.

"Gee, she’s up already," said one of the med techs who were struggling to hold her down. With a blow that sent one of the two reeling back, the woman was on her feet and attempting to run before she smashed into the forcefield.

The woman's eyes were darting all across the brig and changing colo,r in a clear sign of panic. Thinking quickly Thex pulled off her combadge and held it clearly to the woman. "Calm down, we're Starfleet."

The alien woman's eyes did seem to somewhat recognize the combadge, and her breathing slowed as she seemed to relax against the cell’s wall. "I'm Commander Thex Sh'Zoarhi, acting captain of the USS Hera," Thex said calmly as she approached the cell, reaching out to place a restraining hand on the barrel of the phaser rifle Jablonski had leveled at the frantic alien accidental chrononaut.

“Lieutenant Tayna Paulsen, chief of security of the NX-09 Kingfisher. What happened? How did I get here? Where are my..." The human said weakly through a throat that had been used in quite a while.

"Easy… we're going to get you and the two others we found to our medbay, and then I can explain this mess," Thex reassured as she walked toward the forcefield. This was going to take some explaining.

"Ready to beam when you are," Asa said to Thex, anxious to see what in the nine hells was going on with their new charges.

" Okay energize," Thex said calmly as she watched the figures vanish one by one. " Okay, Lieutenant Thav have the brig run through its decontamination protocols. Petty officer Jablonski you still up for being on the emergency response team we may have some other uninvited guests."

"Chief of the honor guard, sir- my primary concern is the well-being of the VIP suite residents," Jablonski pointed out. "But I can be ready to scramble for any response team, aye, Commander. I'll be on standby until further notice, and the decon teams are going to work on the brig cells. I'm going to check on our guests, and I'll have a response team standing by to deploy with me on your order, Commander."

" Very good Jablonski. Make sure any items they have has been checked in the case in got changed in the timeshift." The acting captain added.

Turning to the doctor the andorian gave a polite smile. " Sorry for dropping these three on you doc. I'll make sure the ships okay then I'll join you in sickbay. "

"Right you are, I'll just get a head start then, shall I?" Asa said, waiting to be dismissed.

"Go ahead doctor, and good work so far." Thex said. As the rest of them left the room, Thex stayed behind and ran her fingers through her long white hair. She needed a drink. Something cold.

"Computer. ice water," she said as she walked past the nearest replicator. She still had work to do.




As soon as Asa walked through the Sickbay doors they were calling to staff to assist with the new charges.

“Vimes, scans on the human in biobed 1, Almera, scans on biobed 2, Yukiri, with me for our reptilian friend in 3,” Dael said, voice projecting authority. Without waiting for the “Aye Doctor” they knew would come, the doctor walked briskly over to the prone form in biobed 3.

As the medical tricorder hummed in their hand, Asa lightly palpated the skin, feeling areas of weakness that did not resist pressure in skin should. There were also deep red marks hiding along veins and joints, and the tricorder showed several organs that showed extensive scarring from now-healed injuries. All of this was consistent with the readings Asa got from the patients genetics. The quad helixed genome had been weakened in areas that spoke of beta radiation, and the nonreactive nuclei spoke to broad spectrum radiation exposure.

“Check for radiation damage to your patients please,” Asa called to Vines and Almera.

Yukiri, a bright eyed-bushy tailed young human woman was showing signs of still acclimating to shipboard life. She was a recent graduate and growing up human in a rual area of Earth had done little to prepare her for the sights she would see aboard the Hera.

“Um, Doctor?” she asked in a soft voice.

“Yes, Ensign?” Asa responded.

“Are… are there a lot of patients like this? Like….really sick and stuff? And so….different?” she said.

“Yes, Yukiri,” Asa said, a bit perplexed by Yukiri’s surprise at having sick people in Sickbay. “Not everyone has the benefit of consistent access to healthcare, and everyone is different. Your physiology is extremely different from mine even though we look different on the outside. Did you know that under certain circumstances I can only heal if I’m slightly drunk? Splenic kidney and all…..But even though our patients may look and act different from us doesn’t devalue them. We are privileged to serve a wide array of life forms and learn and grow from each of them. Please monitor the patient’s condition and alert me if it changes.”

With that they walked over to Vimes and Almera, ready to hear their reports.


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It didn't take long for Thex to check on the status of her ship and make it back down to the ships sickbay. The staff were going about their work checking on the new inhabitants. Tayna Paulsen was sitting up on the bio bed still very concerned over what was going on judging by her eyes. " So what can you tell me about them doc." The acting captain asked.

“Aye, Commander,” Dael responded, walking over to the reptilian figure in biobed 3.

“Our Xindi friend here,” they began, “Shows signs of long term and intense radiation exposure. We are running an IV genetic recombination fluid to restore genetic stability, which should stop any further damage. Once vitals have been stable for 24 hours the EMH is going to complete some procedures to strengthen and heal the scarred tissues and organs.”

Walking over to the two human figures in beds 1 and 2, Asa’s face took on a grim expression. “These two…..well, they are going to need a bit more work. They are both augmented, which I’m sure you already knew, but this isn’t a first generation augment. There are signs of aquatic adaptation augmentation beginning at least five generations ago, possibly more. Their bones are incredibly dense, and in addition to functional gills they have increased oxygen processing capability, amped up muscle strength, and eyes that can see in near-dark environments. Honestly, it’s as if someone was trying to build the perfect merperson- just without the tail so far.”

" We tried that, didn't work out well." The alien form of Lieutenant Tayna Paulsen said from her biobed.

" Sounds like an interesting tale. I hate to inform you Tayna, but it looks like you and your two companions have been sent into the future and into another timeline. " Thex said as she walked over to the biobed.

The alien-human ran her webbed hands over her head as she leaned back with a look of sorrow on her face. " That would make sense. Nothing here looks right. "

" Would you mind telling us your history and why you were changed to be an aquatic-based lifeform?" Thex asked politely.

The alien woman breathed in slightly. " We had no choice. We come from the colony on Titan formerly belonging to the lands of Celtica. Ten years after the colony was founded the country of Aspijan launched a virus into the earth's atmosphere. They believed that they could please their gd by murdering all-overs and that she would protect them 95% of all life on Gaia was dead with 48 hours. Without the supply ships from home the colony had no choice, but to alter ourselves to exploit the depths of titans oceans for the needed supplies."

Thex nodded as she listened to the woman's tail, but as she finished her tail an unearthly sound filled the medical bay. First the Xindi then the other human woman appeared to turn to dust before they vanished from the ship. " Commander it appears that the timelines are stabilizing the Klingon station has returned to the Telvan family station." came the bridge from Thex combadge.

Before Thex knew what she was doing she had crossed to one of the computers and copied the process of how they'd fixed the strangers from another time and put it onto a padd. hurrying back to the biobed she thrust it into the hands of Tayna. " Take this it's how we changed you back."

The aquatic woman eyes stared at the padd before looking back at the Andorian. " Thank..." She began before like the other she appeared to turn to dust and vanish from existence.

Thex let out a slight grin as her mind just realized what she had done. That was going to take some explaining.