Recovering the Pod

Posted on 23 Sep 2013 @ 10:51am by Lieutenant Ammar Fahad & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant JG Delainey Carlisle

3,176 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Episode 04 - Exodus
Location: USS Galileo; Deck 4: Main Shuttlebay
Timeline: MD01; 2133

ON

Yet another escape pod settled into Galileo's shuttlebay. The bottom of the pod was scorched and torn. As it set down on the deck the hatch burst open. It revealed a smallish opening and a balding man emerging from the hatch. He had close-cropped black hair with peppered grey in it. His face was pale.

"There are injured in here," he said quickly as he stumbled from the pod. His gold undershirt was stained dark with blood and grease. His jacket was hanging open. There was a tear in the knee of his pants.

Within the pod there were four others. Three of the others were strapped in. The final passenger lay on the floor. His uniform and pips identified him as Venture's Chief Engineering Officer.

--Cargo bay 1--
Allyndra was still making sure that everything was ready to go when someone called for medical help down in the Shuttle bay. Kohl was busy in sickbay and already personnel were getting thin.

=^=This is Allyndra, ACMO I am in Cargo Bay One. Let me get a field kit and I will be there momentarily.=^=

---Shuttle Bay--

In the meantime a security officer helped Ammar from the pod while another climbed in to assess the status of the other passengers. The second officer looked out and called, "We really need some help here. We've got one severely injured."

The security officer helped the three ambulatory individuals out of the pod fairly quickly. The last was just stumbling away from the pod when Allyndra arrived and was surprised to see a pod already on board. "What do we have?"

The security officer inside the pod waved the doctor toward the pod. "We didn't want to move him without a better examination."

Within the pod was a fair-skinned man with blond hair. His hair was matted with blood on the left and one leg was twisted in a completely unnatural way.

To Allyndra it was obvious that one leg was broken. There was blood in the lower part of the legging so she already knew she was probably dealing with a compound fracture of the tibia and probably the fibula. It also appeared to her eyes, while she got the medical tricorder out that the leg had twisted so a nasty compound spiral fracture.

Her most immediate was the blood matting the head area. She got the tricorder going and shook her head. "Depressed skull fracture on parts of the Sphenoid and Temproal bones." She could see the pressure on the monitor as the bones pressed into the dura below. However, the scan as she moved down the injured man revealed something even worse.

She looked up and shook her head. "Severe internal impact injury. I have ruptured spleen, bruised and damaged liver, bruised lung and heart and the kidneys have already shut down." She was surprised the man even was still alive and though she could transfer him to ICU even then the prognosis was more than poor with the indications of organ failure and shut down.

The security man leaned over her shoulder, "Can we move him?"

"If you want to kill him right now, yes. I can try to arrange a site to site but..." Allyndra looked up and shook her head. She was surprised the man was still alive and she doubted for much longer.

It took barely a minute for the man to expire. His breathing became even more ragged, then it stopped. A few moments later, it was clear he was dead.

Allyndra felt that pang of loss in her hearts and noted in a coolly efficient manner the time of death. She shook her head and stood and left the pod.

The security man moved past her as she exited, "You should check out the other survivors." He straightened the dead man's leg and spun him around so that he could pull the corpse from the pod.

She approached the man with the torn yellow tunic since he seemed to be a more senior person. "I am sorry, too many injuries."

While Allyndra attended to the severely injured man inside the pod, Delainey set her sights on attending to the ambulatory occupants security had helped to evacuate. All the while, one ear was trained on the man in the yellow tunic who'd first emerged from the pod. He was alert and responsive, but she didn't like his coloring.

Ammar gestured, "Take care of everyone else first. I'll be okay for a bit longer." He sat on a crate and leaned back against a wall. "There are three others here who need more help than me."

Allyndra noted that Lieutenant Carlisle had arrived and she was grateful for the help. It appeared that she had others well in hand and Allyndra veered off on her approach to check on some of the others and direct them off to Cargo Bay 1.

There were to men Slumped against one of the walls of the shuttle bay. One man grimaced as he clutched his shoulder. The only woman in the pod looked like she was about to fall asleep where she sat. The final of the officers simply looked miserable.

Allyndra made her way over to the other's. She was torn between the one man clutching his shoulder and the woman. One was obvious but the woman seemed to catch her attention and she went there first.

"Hello?" Allyndra said and gently touched the woman. "Tell me your name." As she looked into the woman's face she could see her eyes were having trouble focusing.

The woman had dark hair that ha been pulled back into a tight bun. There were flyaways all over now, but given the condition of everyone else, a few stray hairs was nothing to be concerned about. "Ensign," she paused as if uncertain, "Ensign Amalia Curaao."

"Hello Amalia. I am Doctor Allyndra." She responded. Allyndra started moving the hand probe from the medical tricorder but it only revealed what she already suspected, a concussion.

It was not severe enough to warrant a site to site. "Please stay awake Amalia, you have a concussion. I am going to get some orderlies in to take you up to Cargo Bay 2. We have facilities there to treat you. Do you understand?"

The concussed woman frowned, "Not sickbay?" It was clear that she hadn't quite grasped the situation.
Log out

Allyndra straightened. =^=Allyndra to Cargo Bay Two, I need a couple of people to help move injured.=^=

=^=Aye, one our way=^= came the reply of one male voice.

"No, we have a facility set up. We can do most everything there." Allyndra told the woman. She waved to Carlisle to come over.

Delainey injected a hypo of pain medication into the neck of one crewmember and saw Allyndra wave to her out of the corner of her eye. "I'll be back," she reassured before heading over. "What do we have?"

"The Ensign has a concussion. I have asked for orderlies to come can you talk to her and make sure she stays awake?"

Carlisle simply nodded and turned her attention to the female ensign. "I'm Delainey, and we're going to take good care of you. I know it's hard to think about chatting, but how about you and I try until your chariot arrives? I could use some girl talk."

The woman looked at the counselor with futility. "You want to talk about hair and shoes? I barely escaped an exploding ship, most of my friends are probably dead, and I am so tired." Tears streamed down her face. She leaned her head back against the wall, too tired to wipe away the rivulets of water that streamed along the sides of her face.

Delainey reached for some gauze from her medkit, the closest thing she had to tissues with her, and dabbed at the woman's tears. "We can talk about anything you want," she offered gently. "I just need you to stay awake a bit longer. Will you tell me your name?"

"Amalia Curacao," she whimpered. "How many people made it here alive?"

"Honestly, Amalia, I'm not sure at the moment," Delainey replied. "We've recovered quite a few injured and we're still sorting everyone out. I'll know more in a few hours."

Allyndra nodded gratefully to Delainey for working with the woman and helping handle the people in here. She would make note of that help in her official medical log.

She moved to the man holding his shoulder. A quick scan revealed a broken collar bone on the right and a dislocation of the left shoulder. She could not help but think how much more flexible her own species was. However, she guessed after generations of having been swatted from the skies and battered by seas nature had equipped them differently.

"Sir, you have a broken collar bone, here," she pointed with one delicate fingered hand, but I think the most discomfort is that your left arm has dislocated. "If I may I think I can relieve that and then we can send you on for a quick tissue regeneration on the collar bone. May I?" Allyndra indicated that she wanted to touch and pull the arm.

He grimaced, "Sure." The man didn't particularly like the idea of his arm moving any more than absolutely necessary, but it couldn't be too much worse than it was.

Allyndra was not exactly strong but this would not take a lot if done right. She took the arm and then with one arm pulling the man's and the other pressing in the right spot, there was a distinct pop. She felt for him as the pain of the over stretched tendons and connective tissue fed into the nerves.

As everything was righted, the man yelled, then groaned. "Dear lord, that hurt like hell." His voice was subdued. Likely from just having dealt with remarkably sharp pain.

"I do apologize, but you should try getting a wing over stretched. Imagine your arm and not being able to reach it to even cradle it." Allyndra said and opened slightly the translucent wings. "Now then, let's get you some analgesic and I think we can get you to Cargo Bay 1. We have a facility set up there and a few minutes with a regenerator should be almost as good as new."

She reached into the field medical and pulled a hypo and dialed in a dosage and then pressed.

"There that should hold you for a bit."

Delainey placed a hand on the Ensign's shoulder to reassure her. She feared the sudden yell would startle her mid-conversation. "He's ok. The doctor was just reducing his dislocated shoulder. That's lots of sudden pain but some relief when it's back in place."

Ensign Curacao opened her eyes to look at the other man. "Sure."

Allyndra arranged to have the man lead off. His condition at this moment was not that critical. It appeared that they had the people from the pod pretty well taken care of.

She decided to check with Delaniey. "Doctor Carlisle how is our concussion patient doing?"

"Hanging in like a champ and working hard to make sense of it all." Delainey hoped from that Allyndra could gather what she needed. Carlisle didn't want to stress the woman further by referring too much to her problems.

"Alright let's see if we can get her to sickbay where she can be treated properly."

The two orderlies arrived and helped Amalia to her feet. The officer with his newly relocated shoulder followed a few steps behind them.

Delainey hated to leave Amalia, but she knew she had more work to do and couldn't leave Allyndra to handle everything alone. "Amalia, I'll come by to check on you as soon as I can. For now, go with Scott and Tamar. They're orderlies and will make sure you get to sickbay, ok?"

She nodded, still teary.

"Can I get some of those pain meds?" asked the final man leaning against the wall. He was clearly in pain, but completely cogent.

Allyndra veered off. She had at first figured that the man was alright for he did not display any thing obvious.

"Yes, but let take a look at you." Allyndra said and started a scan. She nodded her head and then reached back into the kit to retrieve the hypo. "Some bruising, primarily it would appear from the restraints. I do not see anything broken nor do I see internal organ impact injury." She pressed the hypo home.

"I think we can release you for now, as you might expect we are going to be getting a lot more in."

He nodded. The signs of pain and discomfort eased from his features as the medication took effect. "Okay, will do. Thank you, doc."

"If you have further problems we have a secondary sickbay in Cargo Bay 1, two decks down. Sorry, I could not do more at the moment, we are stretched thin."

Ammar noted that everyone else had been seen to. He groaned as he leaned forward and levered himself to his feet. he was sore, he was tired, and he was supposed to have been aboard Galileo two days earlier. Two days he had spent working on three hours sleep, followed by half a dozen in a lifeboat trying to keep someone alive.

Allyndra got everyone else off and there was one last person from the POD. "Easy," she said putting out a delicate fingered hand. "let take a look at you as well." She worked on getting the medical scan. The results were at least a relief. "Bumps, bruises but otherwise not bad. I can give you something for the ache." The scan only told her the man was short on sleep, the pinch and draw to face was more than enough.

"That would be great," Ammar said and rubbed his hands over his scalp, ruffling the close-cropped hair that thinned over the top of his head. "I'm actually supposed to be assigned to Galileo, could you do a quick examination to clear me for duty?"

Allyndra shook her head in the negative. "No sir, not unless you get some sleep and I mean a good minimum of eight hours. If you promise me that I will 'skirt' things and clear you off. Do we have a deal?"

The engineer nodded, "Absolutely. I assume I'll need to talk with a counselor before I'm cleared for duty as well. Do you know where I might find one?"

Allyndra pointed to Carlisle escorting the concussion case. "You are in luck there, if you would like to follow them that is Doctor Carlisle our assistant chief counselor."

Ammar nodded. "Thank you, doctor," he paused, "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"I am sorry, it has been hectic Allyndra, and yours sir?"

"Ammar Fahad. I'm slated to be the new Chief Engineer." He smiled, "I appreciate your help Lieutenant Allyndra."

Just before the counselor was about to leave with the remainder of the injured in the bay, Ammar hurried over. "Excuse me, counselor," he came to a jogging halt next to her. "My name is Ammar Fahad. I was supposed to transfer over here a few days ago, but..." What he was implying was very clear.

"Uh, anyway, with the situation we're in, I was wondering if I could meet with you so you could clear me for duty."

Delainey turned and offered, "I appreciate your eagerness to get to work, but given your injuries and what you've just been through, I think it's best for you to get a few hours rest at least before we meet for your eval. I promise to contact you as soon as possible, Mr. Fahad. Look for a message from Delainey Carlisle."

He nodded, "Doctor Allyndra recommended the same thing about getting rest, but with the Borg around, I'm not sure we'll have the time for a formal appointment." He rubbed his eyes. "Maybe just a preliminary pass, so that in an emergency I'd be cleared for duty. I've already promised the doctor that I'd get at least eight hours of sleep."

"Did the doctor clear you for duty based on your promise?" Delainey had a good sense the answer was no, and she wondered if he would be honest or attempt to stretch the truth.

Fahad shrugged, "She said that she would 'skirt' regs and get me tentatively cleared as long as I guranteed her that I would get at least eight hours rest. I'm not looking to avoid my exams, but there are Borg around. I don't want this ship to be without a chief engineer if they show up."

The admission about Allyndra surprised Delainey, who got the impression her fellow doctor was not one to skirt regulations at all. Furthermore, Carlisle was a bit uncomfortable with the idea that she was being asked to do the same regarding issues that were far less clear cut than physical injuries. Physical injuries were either present or not, and healed or unhealed. Psychological injuries could not be detected via tricorder and didn't show up within a predictable timeframe. Every member of the Venture crew was experiencing traumatic shock of one degree or another. That, coupled with fatigue and injury, did not make up the frame of mind Delainey felt she could trust to lead the engineering team.

Delainey shook her head. "No disrespect to you or your skills, but the Galileo has survived without you as CEO for this long, so I'm certain we can manage a bit longer while you get a bit of rest now. I know you're not trying to avoid your exams, and I appreciate how much you want to help us. I hope you can also appreciate I'm not comfortable with skirting regs when I know you're in shock, recovering from injury, and fatigued. The promise that you'll get sleep later doesn't change the fact you're operating under fatigue now, which isn't going to serve you in a position like Chief Engineer, where intense focus is required. Examining you this moment, even a quick assessment, would not be fair or accurate since you're operating under extreme stress right now."

Ammar nodded, "I understand." Even through his weariness, his disappointment was clear. "Thank you for your time. I will wait for your message."

"Get a couple hours of rest and then contact me," Delainey replied, thinking it was a fair compromise. If they were attacked, he'd at least have gotten some rest. Even if you don't sleep, a couple hours of down-time is better than nothing."

Ammar nodded quietly and looked around the shuttle bay. The escape pod he had been in was being jettisoned from the bay, making room for another. "Uh, excuse me..." Ammar said to a security officer nearby.

He would need a new uniform if he were going to meet the captain.

OFF

Lt Allyndra illm Warraquim
CMO
USS Galileo

Lt. JG Ammar Fahad
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

Lt. Delainey Carlisle, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Chief Counselor/Doctor
USS Galileo

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