[snip]

‘’That was fast Captain, did you come by jet? ‘’ she joked, then thought maybe it was not something to joke about ‘’Captain remember when the child spit the piece of bread and you shoved it back into her mouth ? It was most probably smudged with saliva and well we have to check if you have been exposed to any bacteria ‘’Cross waited for his response, that’s if he had any.

“Are you having a relapse Doctor?” Glen asked. Earlier he had stood in the same doorway and watched Doctor Cross feed the girl the sandwich while he looked on. The girl had spat it out at Nurse Mightingale but Captain Glen hadn’t got involved at all. “I’ve heard from Science that the germ is airborne anyway, so we’ll all have to be tested for it, whether we were bitten, spat upon, scratched, or simply in the same room.”

‘’Am I Captain?’‘ Cross asked ‘’ I agree one of us is having a relapse but don’t be so sure it was me and not you Captain ‘’ she replied back ‘’Yes I know its airborne as well for the CSO did inform us ‘’.

‘’Captain your hands please ‘’Cross scanned both of them ‘’You also have some bacteria ,we’ll seal the effected hand ,so when it dies it would be unable to became airborne’‘ .
With that being said Cross wondered if she would be sealed from head to toe ‘’Captain the child is in a closed room ,maybe someone should go using an U T to try and communicate with her ?’‘ the female doctor asked ‘’We have to take her back to her people at some point ‘’.

Now that the bacteria was being taken care off since they found its mode of transmission and also how it subsequently became airborne .Cross had to ask the Captain ‘’Sir who shall take that child down and is it so important to help those on the planet knowing what’s lurking down there?’‘.

Kate stood there trying to remember if it was truly her that did it * I must be tired perhaps that’s the reason* the nurse thought to herself as she looked on at the Captain, Cross and Hunter not really knowing what to say.

Cross was her usual self ,enough stimulation at the moment to keep her out of trouble . What happened next was sudden and unexpected to the others ,first she dropped the tricoder then raised a hand over her face, at this point Hunter was quick enough to help her sit down ‘’Miriam what’s wrong ,do you need some rest ?’‘ he glanced at the Captain concerned.

‘’No, no ‘’ she replied ‘’I have just thought of something which could be important....how could I have forgotten!!’‘ .She spoke to Glen ‘’Captain back at the Habitat, when Lt Lance with his eye problem and myself feeling unwell , the Cmdr decided to let us rest while they went on with the tour. A young nurse came and we started talking jumping from one subject to another ,at some point she told me that two decades earlier an airborne microorganism had infiltrated through their system that made most of the people sick, it happened because this microorganism was small enough to pass through and because of what had happened they developed a more robust system , so nothing similar would happen again, she then went and brought back a pile of papers essentially consisting of a more complex new system different in structure to that which had previously existed ‘’.

“Of course I remember that,” Glen replied. “You were quite adament that we didn’t leave the Habitat without information on the infection, and I made sure that the Dol and Sal gave it to us… So, you believe that infection may be realted to this infection on the planet? We have travelled several Sectors to get here, but we do know that the Habitat did trade and exchange with merchant ships from far away destinations. It isn’t beyong the bounds of probabilities. I expect that you haven’t had the time to enter the information into Mabel’s medical database yet?”.

Cross shook her head ‘’No Sir I neither have the time nor the energy ‘’ and she knew how easy it would be to make the slightest mistake when an individual is tired ‘’We’ll send the information of the vaccine to the science dept , they should have no problem creating a vaccine and above all check if this is after all the same bacteria that inflicted those on the Habitat ‘’.

‘’Their nurse gave me information on the vaccine .They got infected because it was a miniature microorganism that escaped through their filter system,the rest of the papers are for how their engineers accomplished a system so nothing with be able to get through again’‘.

The doctor stood up pacing ‘’I’m certain I brought those papers with me but I cannot recall for the life of me were I left them’‘.

“I’m sure they called that infection on the Habitat ‘a disease’,” Glen added. “I’m a pilot not a doctor, but doesn’t that tend to mean that it is ‘disabling of health’, whereas this infection appears to be a positive boon, if it improves senses and musculature?”.

‘’True Captain but its not yet airborne and airborne means it gets inside the body ,especially through the lungs ,that is the reason it had killed so many of their people ‘’ Cross looked at Glen with those piercing red eyes of hers ‘’If we wait we might very well loose half of our own crew ‘’ her tone was grave.

She gave the child who was still absorbed with the diagnostic wand a mild sedative ‘’Kate wrap her up in a sheet and put her in the cubicle where we have the only cot available on the ship, leave some soft food, milk and sweets .Please make sure the lock is closed from the outside ,do keep an eye on her every now and then’‘.

At the word ‘Cot’ the doctor could not help but think had things turned out differently her baby boy would have been laid down in that cot .

Cross did find the paper records their past visitors had given upon her request. At present though rigging such a complex system into the Merrimack would be quite complex to roll out in any length of recent time. Looking also at record scans of the girl Cross again can confirm the girl was infected by the bacterial symbiote. But now that they knew what to look for it would be child’s play to adjust the internal medical scanners to do a section by section sweep of the ship to look for said bacteria and who was infected. Since it was not harmful it seemed so far they could also probably focus on how they would move ahead with the locals on the planet they had so suddenly left behind just after arriving. No doubt after 3 or so hours being gone if the girl did have parents or caretakers they would probably have noticed she was missing, assuming they had maternal instincts to care/protect the girl they probably would be looking for her. They could also try talking to said girl, see what ability to communicate through the UT she could provide, since no one had done such yet either really.

Kate came with the papers which held all the information ‘’They where in your office Cross ‘’ the doctor nodded ‘’Great !When all this is over Engineering would have some work on their hands ‘’.

Miriam wished she could at least be a bit enthusiastic as the nursing officer.

“We have two excellent linguists about the Merrimack,” Glen said. “McKenzie Lovejoy and Pashi zh’Vhohlehr. If the Universal Translator isn’t decoding what this girl is saying, can we get them to speak to her? I’m surprised this hasn’t happened yet. She might have more information about how her community deals with the effects.”

’‘ Captain I’m surprised too ‘’ .

Cross could not take on most of what was happening just by herself, Hunter had just told her to take Cara on for he did not want the Anthropologist to feel embarrassed.

‘’Captain give your orders to the science dept while Kate shall go with the information on the vaccine and hand it to them ,Kate remind them this could be a race against time , Hunter make sure anyone who goes inside the cubicle is wearing the appropriate gear ‘’.

“I’ll get the science department onto the scanning right away, and I’ll ask our linguists to come and speak to the girl,” replied Glen. “I’m also wondering how the Klindons dealt with it and whether it affected them. It is possible that it didn’t affect them because of the chromoanagenesis they have suffered as a result of the Qu’Vat virus?”

=?\= Captain Glen to the Bridge. Take the ship to Amber Alert. =/\=

=/\= Science Department. Captain Glen to Lieutenant Aphelion. Please adjust all internal medical scanners to do a section by section sweep of the ship to look for this alien bacteria and who has been infected by it. =/\=

=/\= Captain Glen to McKenzie Lovejoy and to Pashi zh’Vhohlehr. You both claim to be excpetionally good linguists. Please report to Sickbay and try to make some sense out of the native girl we accidentally picked up from the planet. We have a critical sitaution aboard the ship and need some answers. = /\=

She then pulled the curtains for the sake of privacy ‘’Cara do please lay on the bio-bed so I can seal all your tail’‘ .

Cara was having trouble keeping control of her tail. it was stronger, more agile and more manipulative than before. It seemed to have a mind of its own.

“I’m trying my best to climb up, doctor,” Cara replied, as the tail whacked the curtains. After a struggle, Cara managed to lie face down on the bio bed with her tail waving in the air behind her. “When you’re ready!”

-Cara Meow.