Finally, A Breakthrough

Posted on Sun Sep 21st, 2025 @ 9:54pm by Lieutenant Ayryn Trynn M.D. & Lieutenant Stormy Knight & Lieutenant JG Elara Vasquez
Edited on on Wed Sep 24th, 2025 @ 5:22pm

1,809 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: A Silence of Friends
Location: Science Labs/Sickbay

Elara stood at the bedside of Patrick hoping that things would work for him. He wasn't as bad as the others, but the fever was what got him down. And they couldn't fix it. Hoping that Stormy had something they could use, she called Ayryn and Stormy to a teleconference so they could work on a cure.

Stormy was spending most of her time in a science lab, testing different combinations of potential antidotes against known strains of the plague. Each time she failed, she made notes, regrouped, and tried again. Each failure got her a little closer to a solution. The computer was also adapting, using the new data to suggest new combinations to try. "I sent all the data I found on the planet to sickbay, but I'm not sure you've had time to look--or even notice it's there. I've been testing potential antidotes since I returned from the planet. If you'd like to review the data in a medical lab, that would be a great help. With the addition of the Guarani DNA, we're close." She paused to check the computer. "The most promising test so far is GV-451. It needs another couple of hours, but so far it looks good."

“Thank you, Stormy,” she said, her voice soft but steady. “I’ll head to the lab right away and pull up the data. If we’re this close, then we can’t waste any more time.” She glanced toward the comm display. “Ayryn, I’ll need your insight on how the Guarani strands integrate with our samples—we can’t risk an unstable reaction.”

"That is the one thing I can't check," Stormy said. "How my current tests interact with your patients. I can just go by what the computer says."

A brief moment of solitude to meditate and regroup had been pulled away when the comm system had come to life. At first Ayryn Trynn has feared one of the patients had started to deteriorate and she felt some relief to realise that wasn’t the case. Which, ironically only made it clear how much she needed rest or at least to regain her calm.

“I agree with the need to develop a cure as quickly as possible and I know you’ve been working non-stop Lieutenant. I’m sorry we haven’t had more resources to commit to this and help you.

Dr Vazquez, I’m not overly thrilled at the idea of us both being away from here at one time to work in the lab in case we have a medical emergency. I am happy to support wherever, as long as one of us here to provide care. I can run simulations and keep an eye on your work from here. Keeping them alive is just as important as the cure.”

"I'll keep running tests," Stormy said. "Let me know what you both need."

“We have to think delivery system,” Ayryn pointed out. “I would prefer a two pronged approach to maximise the impact. So, I propose we have a two pronged approach - aerosol and a serum. It should be quick to adapt once we have the cure itself. The serum should be priority as it will be more concentrated and more effective - but this is an airborne pathogen and we need to account for that.

“Doctor Vasquez, do you agree?”

While she waited for Doctor Vasquez to reply, Stormy made notes.

Elara exhaled slowly, one hand still resting on Patrick’s arm as if anchoring herself. Ayryn was right—splitting themselves too thin could prove disastrous if one of the patients suddenly crashed. But Stormy’s data couldn’t be left to sit in the system, not when GV-451 looked this promising.

“I do agree,” she said at last, her tone calm but firm. “The serum will give us the precision and strength we need to stabilize patients who are already failing, but an aerosol will help us get ahead of the spread. Both approaches give us the best chance of containing this before it becomes unmanageable.”

She straightened, forcing her weariness down into resolve. “Ayryn, stay here and keep the patients stable. I’ll go to the lab and start running Stormy’s data against the Guarani strands to see how it interacts with what we’ve already collected from the sickbay samples. That way we’re not relying solely on predictive models.”

Her gaze flicked between them on the comm display. “Stormy, keep pressing forward with GV-451. If the computer flags any instability or anomalous reactions, send me the raw results immediately—I’ll compare them to what I find in the lab. Ayryn, if anyone’s condition worsens, I want you to call me instantly. I can always remote in if needed, but we can’t afford to lose time or lives.”

She let her eyes fall back to Patrick for one lingering heartbeat, her voice softening. “He’s holding on for now. Let’s make sure he—and the rest of them—have something to hold on for.”

"I'm taking a trip with Commander Knox shortly. If we're successful, I hope to have some additional material we can use," Stormy said.

[Later]

As soon as Stormy returned to the Thunderbird, she put the samples in the computer and shared them with medical. Then she sent a message to doctors Trynn and Vasquez. "I just entered samples from a living Guarani into the computer. Running more tests now."

Administering another dose of medicine to help the captain stay comfortable and - hopefully- continue to prevent his condition from deteriorating further, Dr Trynn crossed to the nearest workstation. “Acknowledged,” she replied, glancing around the overwhelmed sickbay and exhausted faces she could see from a medical staff who had gone above and beyond. “And excellent news. Did this individual have a natural immunity?”

Please say yes, she thought. Please…

On her fifteenth alteration with the fresh samples, Stormy finally had it. "Knight to sickbay. I'm sending you the latest test. I think we finally have a cure."

Leaving the nurse to tend to the captain, Trynn crossed to the nearest workstation to review the data. “This is brilliant work,” she enthused, encouraged by what the test indicated. “Dr Vasquez, how quickly can we synthesis enough to administer to the most seriously ill patients first? And how fast can we make an aerosol version to kill off any spores which may be in other parts of the ship?”

Elara’s eyes scanned the data flashing across the console, her pulse quickening as the markers all aligned in a way they never had before. For the first time in days, hope edged past exhaustion.

“This looks solid,” she said, her voice steady but carrying a thread of urgency. “But before we start mass synthesis, we need to know for certain that it won’t collapse in a real system. The computer models can only take us so far.”

Her gaze shifted toward the captain’s biobed, where Patrick lay pale but still breathing evenly beneath the medication’s haze. The weight of command pressed against her chest as she spoke.

“I suggest we administer the first dose to Patrick,” she said firmly. “He’s the Chief Medical Officer—he would understand the risks, and he’d be the first to tell us to try it on him before anyone else. If it stabilizes him, we’ll know we can move forward. After that, the next should be the captain. His leadership will be critical once he’s strong enough to return to duty.”

She straightened, looking between Ayryn and the comm feed from Stormy. “Once we confirm efficacy, we’ll roll out to the rest of the critical patients while we scale production. Stormy, keep the lab on maximum output. Ayryn, prep the serum for Patrick now. If this works, it will change everything.”

Her eyes flickered briefly to Patrick again, her voice softening. “Hang on just a little longer… help is finally here.”

“I agree, Dr Ryan would undoubtedly volunteer to go first,” Ayryn agreed. “Any fallout for that call, rests with me. I’ll head to the medical lab, get this serum prepped. But I’m also going to make an aerosol based version. We hit them with both. Ensign, you are with me… I’ll need someone to act as a runner between here and the lab.”

"I'll keep monitoring the samples, just in case there' are any changes," Stormy said. But this time, she didn't see anything that looked off. "Keep me posted. Knight out." Now she had to send a message to Striel. The countdown hadn't run out yet, but they were getting too close for her comfort.

Time blurred into measured minutes, each one marked by the steady hum of Sickbay monitors and the low murmur of staff moving quickly but carefully. The serum had been prepped, the first dose given to Patrick under Elara’s watchful eye, and now all they could do was wait. Every breath he took, every flicker on the vitals display, pulled at her attention.

The fever, once relentless, had begun to ebb. The wild irregularities in his biosigns steadied—tentatively, but unmistakably. By the end of the first hour, his skin was cooler to the touch, his breathing deeper and more even. Nurses who had been silently holding their anxiety let out small sighs of relief, though no one dared speak the word cure aloud yet. Not until they were sure.

Elara finally stepped back from the biobed, rolling the stiffness from her shoulders. Her gaze lifted to Ayryn as the other doctor returned from the lab, a faint sheen of fatigue across her face but determination still in her eyes. The faint scent of the aerosol tests clung to her uniform—a reminder that they were attacking this illness on two fronts.

“It’s working,” Elara said at last, her voice quiet but carrying to the whole room. “Patrick’s fever is breaking. His vitals are stabilizing. This isn’t just a model anymore—it’s real.”

She let that sink in, then drew a steadier breath. “Ayryn, once the Captain’s serum is ready, we move to him next. Then we’ll begin the broader rollout. We’ll need your aerosol ready to deploy across the ship as soon as it clears testing. And Stormy—” she glanced toward the comm feed, “—your data made this possible. We wouldn’t be here without it.”

For the first time in what felt like days, Elara allowed the faintest smile to touch her lips. “Let’s finish this. No more waiting for death—we’re taking our ship back.”

Lieutenant Stormy Knight
Chief Science Officer
USS Thunderbird

Lieutenant Ayryn Trynn
Chief Counselor
USS Thunderbird

Lieutenant JG Elara Vasquez
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Thunderbird

 

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