Lock her Down

Posted on Fri May 9th, 2025 @ 7:03pm by Lieutenant Commander Harrison Knox & Chief Petty Officer Gildran Trusk & Lieutenant Tyler Malbrooke & Lieutenant Daegan Baas & Lieutenant Juliette Barnes & Lieutenant Patrick Ryan M.D. & Lieutenant Ayryn Trynn M.D. & Lieutenant Stormy Knight & Captain Rylan Gray

3,186 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: A Silence of Friends
Location: USS Thunderbird

Unnoticed by the group gathering, Rylan walked into Sickbay and upon seeing that his Chief Medical Officer was about to address his team, entered Doctor Ryan's office to wait. He took the doctor's own seat behind the desk so that he could rest his head against the back and listened, while he waited.

Patrick looked around at everything that was going on in Sickbay. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Nurses and fellow Doctors. All of you have been wearing masks and doing what is needed. I am about to initiate quarantine procedures in Sickbay and lock it down. No vistors. Anyone who is here has already taken their procedures."

Nurse Velan looked at him. "Doctor. you don't have your mask."

He felt as though he were coming down with something. Flu maybe. Something. And he thought of Commander D'Sai who at least for the present would be unable to perform her duties. The suspicion was forming in the back of Rylan's mind that perhaps, he too, had whatever D'Sai had. "Gray to Bridge," he said quietly.

"Tell Lieutenant Malbrooke that he has the Bridge for the moment," Rylan said, "and tell Starfleet Command to recall Commander Knox immediately. He's needed."

"Aye, Sir," the Bridge answered. There was a brief pause and then the Bridge came back. "Lieutenant Malbrooke and Commander Knox have been informed, Sir."

"Very good," Rylan answered. "Very good."

In all the commotion, Patrick had in fact forgotten his mask. "I was also on the planet with these people. If anything were to happen, you know who to call."

Nurse Velan nodded.

"Computer, initiate quarantine procedures Sickbay. Lock Down Codes Ryan Alpha Papa Yankee..." Patrick started.

The ship taken care of, Rylan rose from the seat behind the desk and made his way out of the office though he didn't get far. Willpower and the need to get things done can only get a person so far. As he reached the Sickbay's lobby, he crumpled and fell.

Patrick stopped mid command as he heard something fall in his office and noticed the Captain. "Computer, initiate quarantine procedures Sickbay. Lock Down Codes Ryan Alpha Papa Yankee Foxtrot. Alert the Bridge. The Captain has collapsed in sickbay and we have locked it down for quarantine." Patrick and a few doctors came and grabbed the Captain to move him onto a biobed. "Monitor the Captain. "

Patrick sat on the edge of a bio bed. "Ryan to Trynn. Please put your quarantine gear on and report to sickbay. It's time for you to help with your favor to me."

Nurse Velan looked at Patrick. "Doctor are you ok?"

"No. I'm not sure why this is affecting me. But it is. I think Doctor Trynn will need to assist." Patrick said.

Meanwhile on the Bridge Tyler sat in the center chair and obtained reports from the officers of the watch. Just as the engineer was informing him of some routine maintenance to the warp core the message from Sick Bay about the Captain and the quarantine. He ordered Cargo Bay 2 converted into a make shift Sick Bay for anything that happened outside of the quarantine. "Bridge to Sick Bay. Keep me informed on the condition of the Captain." This was the first time that Tyler was in command of the Thunderbird and it was off to a very auspicious beginning.

[Science]

Stormy was again going over the scans she'd taken on the planet and comparing them to other ancient sites. There had to be something, somewhere. Well, there didn't have to be, but she wanted to find some sort of link. The latest information that some sort of epidemic may have led to the death of the former inhabitants was concerning. Could it have been something in the food or water supply? Or was it something airborne? And if so, was it still on the planet? She needed answers.

"Computer, compare data from the planet to other known Gurani sites. Also look for known pathogens." There had to be something. She still wanted to go back to the planet and have a look in that medical facility. But for now, she would see what she could find.

[Deck 2]

Daegan walked the section he had had lock down. Fortunately the area had been unoccupied as the other department heads had been on duty, but now he was locked down behind a quarantine field. Whatever had hit the XO had hit her seemingly fast. He still felt fine, maybe he had his symbiote to thank for that. Whatever the reason he had to get out from this area and do something. Tapping his commbadge. "Bridge, the area around the XO's quarters is confirmed clear. Request permission to return to the surface to see if that AI has any answers. I've already been exposed to whatever hit the XO and am still unaffected."

"Request granted. Maintain transporter lock and an open channel at all times. It may be prudent to take someone with you as well. They could wear an environmental suit to prevent infection." Tyler responded into the comm system. He was a trained command officer although hated the center chair or the spotlight as it were.

"Acknowledged." He thought for a moment and didn't want to endanger anyone else in the dvent the AI on the surface was behind this whole mess.

[Sickbay]

In the few minutes it took for Ayryn to suit up and then navigate the protocols which were designed to safely isolate sickbay from the rest of the ship, the situation was worse than she anticipated. For one thing they had a very familiar patient - the captain. Someone who, notably - had not stepped foot on the surface.

We brought something back and it is contagious… she realized. It had been a possibility but this… this confirmed it. She wondered if the scientists on the crew had made any headway. And wished she had some of her old classmates on hand. Ikali and his fascination with exotic pathogens would have been perfect. But wishful thinking was not productive and so she moved to the group of medics gathered around the captain.

“Doctor Ryan?”

Patrick forced himself to his feet as Ayryn entered the room, the gentle hiss of the isolation seals closing behind her. The suit she wore reflected the biobed monitors in faint blue glimmers, and for a brief moment he felt a flicker of relief—just knowing someone else was here who understood what they were up against.

“Trynn—thank you,” he said, voice tight with strain as he steadied himself against the medcart. “The Captain collapsed without warning. He wasn’t on the away mission. That means we’ve either missed a vector… or it’s spread beyond exposure. Either way, containment is compromised.”

He gestured toward the screen above the Captain’s biobed, already displaying familiar neural degradation markers. “But here’s the thing—some of the crew are still fine. Not everyone is showing symptoms. There has to be a common denominator. Something shared only by the ones who are affected. We’ve been looking at exposure, spores, the pathogen itself… but maybe it’s something else. A genetic receptor. A metabolic trait. Something subtle.”

He keyed up a multi-scan overlay of all the infected patients—Rush, Vashti, D’Sai, and now the Captain—his hands unsteady as he tapped through the filters. His fever was getting worse. The room felt hotter than it should.

“I want you to run a comparative analysis across all infected—gene expression, immune profiles, neural structure, anything. If we can isolate a common trait, we might be able to screen for susceptibility—or find a way to block it.”

He paused, bracing himself against the console, and met Ayryn’s gaze through her face shield.

“You know my notes, my protocols. I need you focused, Trynn. You’re in charge of containment now.”

His voice lowered slightly, almost as an afterthought: “And if I go down next… don’t waste time trying to fix me. Find the pattern. That’s how you save everyone else.”

Then, even as his vision blurred at the edges, Patrick turned back to the monitors—because the answers were in the data, and there was still time to find them.

[Science]

Stormy was again looking over the data from the planet when her computer dinged. She set the PADD on her desk and turned to read the results on the screen. "The Velrith Plague?" She shook her head. That wasn't possible, was it? And yet, the data was clear. She quickly accessed more information from the computer. It was caused by an airborne pathogen that went dormant until it came into contact with specific genetic markers. that would explain why it wasn't detected before.

Before she contacted the doctor, she scanned the genetic markers and gene sequences affected by the plague. Her eyes widened when she noted that a rare polymorphic variant found in certain humanoids made them vulnerable to this particular pathogen, including some Bajorans, Betazoids, and Vulcanoid hybrids. While there were some treatments, it was fatal to those with certain mutations.

Stormy tapped her combadge. "Knight to Doctor Ryan." When she got no reply, she tried the captain, with the same results.

Patrick blinked hard against the dizziness clouding his vision as the combadge chirped. He hit it immediately, forcing his voice to remain steady.

"Ryan here. Go ahead, Knight."

"I found it," Stormy stated. "On the planet. It was dormant, so we couldn't pick it up on our scans. The Velrith Plague. I believe it wiped out the Gurani. It can also affect a small percentage of Bajorans, Betazoids, and Vulcanoid hybrids. I'll send you what I have."

Patrick gripped the console tighter as Stormy’s words sank in, adrenaline briefly sharpening his dulled mind.

"Good work, Knight," he managed, his voice rough but clear. "Send everything to Sickbay’s isolation core—encrypted channel. We need treatment protocols, historical cases, anything on containment and neural degradation reversal."

He inhaled carefully, steadying himself before continuing.

"If it's the Velrith Plague, then we have a genetic vulnerability factor. That explains the selective infection pattern. We’ll start screening immediately—identify who's at risk and isolate them before they show symptoms."

He tapped a few commands into the panel with trembling fingers, routing Stormy's incoming data to Ayryn’s station. His vision swam slightly, but he forced himself to stay upright.

"Knight— I want a full historical profile on Gurani environmental factors. Anything they encountered that might trigger plague activation—climate shifts, artifact exposures, anything. If it mutated once, it could mutate again."

Patrick leaned back against the console for support, pressing his palm briefly against his forehead. Fever hammered at him, but he wouldn’t stop. Not until he knew they had a fighting chance.

"And Stormy..." he added, voice dropping slightly but firm, "you may have just saved the ship. Keep going."

He closed the channel, the last flicker of strength pushing him into motion toward the treatment station where Ayryn was already prepping the next steps.

[Bridge]

"Knight to bridge." Patrick didn't sound good. Stormy wanted to make sure someone on the bridge was aware of the situation before she began another search of the planetary data. Once again, she was grateful she'd taken so many scans while on the planet.

The Thunderbird's turbolift came to a full stop having reached it's destination -- The Bridge where a scruffier faced Lieutenant Commander Harrison Knox arrived, stepping off the lift and onto the Bridge. Several minutes prior a Federation runabout carrying Knox had reached the coordinates and the auxiliary craft landed in the bay and he immediately made his way to the nearest lift flanked by Chief Yeoman Trusk who Knox handed a PaDD to as soon as he had stepped out of the runabout.

"Lieutenant Malbrooke, I relieve you of command by order of Starfleet Command...respectfully" Harrison said in a stern tone, trying his best not to show weakness or hesitation. He had a lot of emotions brewing underneath because of all of this, because of Rylan not being in command of the Thunderbird. Trusk proceeded to hand the lieutenant the PaDD with the orders.

Tyler took the PADD without standing from the chair. The orders were confirmed however, there was another worry on his mind. "Commander Knox. Before I can relinquish command of this vessel I must confirm that you are not infected. We still do not know if whatever has infected the others has made it into our Environmental System. So, it is possible that you are infected. I have ordered that all Bridge officers be scanned every other hour to ensure the health and safety of all aboard. With your permission I can scan you right here. If you are uninfected then yes of course the ship is yours."

"I've been back aboard a whole hell lot less than you've been aboard, Lieutenant. I would hope I am not infected. So, test away" replied Knox

Tyler waived the sensor of a medical tricorder around the Commander's body and within seconds had a complete readout. It was confirmed the Commander was in good health and cleared of any infection. "Thank you Commander. I stand relieved." Tyler rose from the center chair and took the Operations station. A place where he felt more comfortable than the center chair.

Knight's attempt to contact the bridge was received. "Good to hear your voice Stormy," prefaced Knox. "Now, I tell ya I wan't some good news, hear me?" he said as he settled in as best he could on the bridge. "I'm all ears, Lieutenant" he added.

She paused for a moment, surprised to hear Knox' voice. "Welcome back. I do have some good news. It's the Velrith Plague and was dormant on the planet. It not only affects the Gurani, but some Bajoran, Betazoid, and Vulcan hybrids who have specific genetic markers. I just sent the information to sickbay."

"Good work, Lieutenant," Knox replied. He was pleased to hear that there was at least a 'face' to the problem. "So, this has a name. Velrith plague. Do we have any accounts of any Gurani surviving it, or was this really what wiped them all out?"

"Hard to tell, as we've no records to tell us if they died off or if they left. I'm going to do another check of the data to see if I can learn more. The doctor wants to know more about what triggered the plague now," she replied.

"Understood" replied Knox. He immediately opened a channel to Sickbay. "Bridge to Sickbay, Lieutenant Commander Harrison Knox in command. Sickbay, what's the status of your patients?"

Patrick heard the call crackle over the comms but by then, he was slumped heavily against the biobed, every movement costing him more than he could afford. His body was burning with fever, muscles uncooperative, thoughts flickering like static.

He tapped his combadge weakly, his voice rough and strained.

"Sickbay... Ryan here," he rasped. "Status... deteriorating. Multiple critical patients. Quarantine holding."

He swallowed against the dryness in his throat, then forced the next words out, knowing he couldn’t lead this anymore.

"Lieutenant Trynn is assuming control of Sickbay operations. She has full authority for medical response."

Patrick shifted his gaze toward Ayryn through blurred vision, offering a faint, tired nod.

"Bridge... coordinate through her... Ryan out."

His hand dropped from the combadge, and for the first time in what felt like days, Patrick let himself lean back, surrendering to the inevitable. His part—for now—was done.

As the channel to the bridge closed, Trynn was already crouching beside her colleague. “We’ve got you” she promised him, gesturing for the medical technicians to move in and help move him, putting a gloved hand on his shoulder. “Just rest and stay strong. We will figure this out, I promise.” She hoped

Knox listened to the commotion. "Counselor, tend to your patients. I'll contact you again momentarily."

[Main Engineering- Barnes’s office]

Quarantine? thought Lieutenant Barnes. Are we at that point already? She had been self-monitoring, even regularly checking her body temperature. No hint of a fever and she felt fine otherwise. But it was still stressing her out. The possibility loomed that anybody on the ship could become sick at any moment.

If this went on too long, her hair would surely fall out.

A beep from her console drew her attention away from the reports on which she had been working. She had the computer passively monitoring the passive sensors- that was a lot of passivity- and it was merely alerting her to activity. She took a look at the readings and recognized the drones they had seen on the planet. But what were they doing?

She stood from her desk and went out into Main Engineering to switch to active scans for a better reading. They all seemed to be heading to the communications array of Guran III. Were they repairing it? It sure seemed that way. The only other thing they could be doing was salvaging parts, but it didn’t appear that they were dismantling it.

An idea struck her. If she could tap into that array, she might be able to find some clues. She would have to wait for it to be operational, though.

Tapping her combadge, she said, “Barnes to the bridge.” This was definitely reportable.

It took him a moment, but Knox shifted in the Captain's chair. "Bridge here, Lieutenant. What's on your mind?"

“Those drones we saw on the surface,” started Julie, “it looks like they’re attempting to repair their communications. I’m not sure why as there’s nobody to talk to them. But, I might be able to tap into it and find some clues.”

"Proceed and pursue your quest for clues, Lieutenant, but if you uncover communication that jeopardizes our safety further, find a means of terminating that communication."

“Of course,” replied Julie. That seemed obvious, after all. “I’ll let you know if I find anything interesting.”

[Science]

Stormy gathered all the information they had on Guran III from their own scans, the information from Striel, and the data Julie brought back and set the science computer to look for changes to the planet and any indications of the current plague and how it could have remained hidden from them. While that ran, she went to the bridge to run a new series of scans of the planet to see what had changed since their first arrival. If anything, she could do a comparison analysis of the scans from the first time Starfleet found the planet to their arrival and the current outbreak. Hopefully, something would stand out.

When she entered the bridge, she paused to nod to Harrison and Tyler before settling in at her station.


[On the surface]

Daegan materialized near the spot he had been 'abducted' from and looked about and shugged. He tapped his commbadge to send out a general siglgnal. "Striel. Please respond.


To Be Continued...

 

RSS Feed