Posted Sept. 26, 2022, 1:54 a.m. by Lieutenant Commander Markus Woods (Chief Star Fleet Science Officer) (Sam Haynes)
Posted by Lieutenant Sharah Fayth (Chief Star Fleet Medical Officer) in Unforeseen Developments
Posted by Lieutenant Commander Markus Woods (Chief Star Fleet Science Officer) in Unforeseen Developments
(snip)
He could feel her rising panic but he was as steady as a sturdy tree, bowing and swaying in the wind. “Everyone’s okay. Nobody got hurt. I’m pretty sure if you hadn’t people would have gotten hurt.” When she asked about the psilosynine levels, he nodded. Stretching out one hand, he called the PaDD to him from the chair, then gestured to the bio-bed readouts, swiping them onto the PaDD for her to see, current levels, baseline levels, and where they had dropped to earlier, along with a timeline for the readings so she had an accurate picture.
His calm steadied her and she nodded. She’d helped, but she had no real memory of what she had done or how. How could she control it if she didn’t know how she had so e it?
Sharah knew, better than most, how the artifact had changed Markus and the latent abilities it had awoken, but it never ceases to create a sense of awe in her. Even when they had fallen asleep on the couch watching a movie and he moved a blanket over her. Maybe it awes her even more then.
For the moment, he let her take it in, not wanting to interrupt.
Mark
She stared at the readings for long silent moments. Well physically silent, mentally she was murmuring softly and processing at a rapid speed. The numbers, patterns, evaluating cause and effect. The implications sinking in and to shocking to react to at first. Shocking in that her research had no similar data for her to examine and how different her life could have been if…if this wasn’t a fluke.
She opened and closed her mouth several times. ‘Do you think the intense use of my gift caused the drop? How could we even test that? Safely? Without risk to others?‘ The risk to herself wasn’t considered just discarded.
Fayth
“It’s a hypothetical model I was kicking around in my head,” he said, answering the question about the drop. “As for testing, I’ve no idea yet. That was one of the reasons why I hadn’t brought it up. A hypothesis is worthless if you can’t test it.” He shrugged one shoulder. “I guess we might have the first test out of the way. But it’s still only a hypothesis, and a bad one, if we can’t get a reproduction on it. And there’s a bunch of other stuff before it goes into theory.” Of course, she knew all that. Good medicine started in good scientific practices, and heavens knew how much of her own lab time she had. it still bore repeating.
Sharah nodded still pouring over the data while they spoke. “A hypothetical that seems to lean strongly for a hypothesis that needs testing…but how?” She was more contemplating to herself. It was hard to not be personally drawn into it and to remain analytical about it. It was the first real… development…piece of data that she had had in a few years. The last time had been when she had been so sick from that parasite.
“I’m still considering a counter hormone. All things exist in balance, or should. Right? Or a filter maybe. I’ve wondered maybe the gland isn’t the problem, but that your body just isn’t producing any counter-balance.” He frowned. In truth they’d need a lot of blood work and testing to even know if that was true. They’d be looking for a chemical, or rather a lack of it, that nobody’d thought to look for. If it was a real thing in the first place.
Mark
Her mind was now in research mode, and with Markus so close, holding her, the noise was minimal. “That is a possibility. We would need another Betazoid telepathy though, or…” She looked up at him and paused. Her features softened and she set the PaDD down. Then suddenly she hugged him, pulling him close. ‘I’m sorry I worried you.‘ Discussing her vitals and the implications has distracted her for a few moments, calmed the panic, but the experience was upsetting and she could feel how worried he had been and still was. ‘Thank you for being here, not leaving me alone.‘ Deep affection and more importantlylove flowed from her.
Sharah
He held her back tight, his arms around her like bands of gentle iron. *It's okay. It wasn't intentional. And you're welcome. Where else would I be, love?* For a solid minute at least he just held on, holding her tight. It was good to have her in his arms. Sure he could have curled up with her in the bed. Picked her help and held her any time. but … this was different. And he realized then he’d been holding his breath in some way. Slowly he let go of it and relaxed, just taking comfort in her, her presence, and that she did indeed seem to be alright.
It was a momentary vacation from similarly being in research and analysis mode. , and as much as he enjoyed working on those puzzles, there was something pure about leaning into her, and the two of them.
Mark
© 1991-2023 STF. Terms of Service
Version 1.13.6
RSS Feed