Who Helps the Helper?

Posted on Sat Sep 16th, 2017 @ 3:55pm by

3,752 words; about a 19 minute read

Mission: Unknown Life, Unknown Dangers
Location: Sickbay - Bio Contaminant Examination Room

Will was on the Bridge after a refreshing night of making up with Vash, his mood had improved considerably but that was all about to change when the alert from Medical came in. At first Will was taken aback by it but training kicked in quickly as he rose to his feet. Such an emergency in Sickbay could mean one of few things. "Report?"

"Sickbay has declared an emergency evacuation and quarantine lockdown. The last report to exit Sickbay was a sample of the bio organism had breached containment within the bio examination room. Level 10 force fields are in place."

"Who's still in there?" Will asked.

"Doctor Patrovski is sealed within the Bio Examination Room, he initiated the evacuation and lockdown."

"Commander Reign, meet me outside Sickbay on the double." Will looked at his First Officer. "You have the Bridge." Then headed to Sickbay to see what was going on.

The internal sensors had just notified BJ that a quarantine and evacuation had been ordered for Sickbay and her heart jumped in her chest. Xavier was there. She left her office at a run, stopping only to grab a Type II phaser, two transporter enhancers and a portable force field generator from the armory. The ride in the turbolift seemed to take forever and she launched herself out of it as soon as the doors opened and bolted for Medical.

Xavier could only watch from the hopeful protection of a force field as the creature continued to grow to about the size of a Human torso. It thrashed around its prison until the cold made it too brittle causing it to explode, Xavier recoiled off the force field in reflex. When he came to his senses again the creature had wrapped its limb like appendages around his force field. A level 10 force field was as strong as they came, he was safe for the time being. All he could do was stand and look at the Nurse in the control booth.

Will seemed to reach Sickbay first, armed with a phaser, tricorder and training he waited for BJ to arrive, she was afterall the Chief of Security. "Computer, standby to open main Sickbay door for myself and Commander Reign only upon arrival."

BJ arrived, shoved her equipment under one arm and quickly punched her Security override code into the door panel. "What's going on, Commodore?" she asked him as she waited for the doors to open."

"Doctor Patrovski initiated this. I'm as lost as you." When the doors opened they stepped in to a vacant Sickbay. Trays and equipment toppled over scattered on the floor in clear signs that it was a hasty exit.

The Nurse came running out. "Sirs, it's Doctor Patrovski, he was running tests on the sample in the B.E.R and it just....grew at an alarming rate. It damaged the examination unit and because its the B.E.R the seals secured and went into lock down. It's broken out of the container and well.....you should see for yourselves."

Leading the officers to the control booth they would see Xavier in a red, head to toe complete medical bio suit in a force field. What ever it was, its limbs wrapped around his force field protection solely interested in its captive prey.

BJ felt faint and took a moment to steady herself and forced Commander Reign to take charge. She approached the quarantine area and looked at the sensor readings on the nearest terminal, then over at Doctor Patrovski. "Don't worry, Doctor," she said. "We're going to get you out of there."

She began to set up the transport enhancers and made a few adjustments, then looked up again. "How fast is that thing growing and has anything slowed it down yet?"

"That wont work." The nurse replied. "Its a Bio Examination Room. In the event of containment failure nothing in, nothing out. That's the whole point of the room. You can't beam him out, when protocols are in effect transporters wont work in there for that very reason."

Then a new twist unfolded. Xavier started to feel cold, what ever it was was doing its thing to him now.

Will stood and watched, what could he do? The Nurse made perfect sense. It still raised the question of how to get Xavier out of the room. He looked at BJ, saw the steel nerves but knew this must be hard for her.

"I'm Search and Rescue," Commander Reign said as she reached for a tricorder and began to take scans of the thing and the force field strength around Xavier - No, she told herself. Commander Petrovski, the Chief Medical Officer.

"That force field is getting weaker and I don't think the organism gives a shit about protocols when that force field falls. I'm going to get him out of there. Has fire and cold been tried on it yet?"

"Only the Doctor can control what happens in there now, I'm locked out." The Nurse spoke stepping beside the Commander. "The force field will hold, it broke out of the container because it made it brittle. I'm telling you Commander, right now there is no way to get him out." The Nurse spoke.

"BJ..." Xavier spoke starting to feel a little chill. "It's alright, I knew what I was doing when I did this. He's right, the field will hold. You have to speak to the Chief Engineer, if there is a way, he's got to know how."

"What made it brittle?" the brunette Security Chief asked the nurse as she made another adjustment to the tricorder and transport enhancer. She looked up at Xavier for a moment and shook her head. "I need help here before I can call in more help. What has affected this thing so far?"

"That thing did. It seems to do it on contact at will. The Doctor was trying to test radiation samples to see what it didnt like most, since we can treat most radiations he felt if he knew what it fed off, we could poison it some how. It leapt around at first as it grew but it became aware of him, next it started to freeze the corner breaking the seal causing the lockdown." The Nurse played back the visual feeds of the accident.

"What if we were to cut all the power to everything here except the force fields?" BJ asked. "It has to feed on something." As long as it's not Xavier. She felt her control over her mask of professionalism slipping and fought to put it back in place. "Can burn it? You'd be safe behind the force field, Doctor."

"Self sustaining power units, to keep the seals and lockdown in effect." The Nurse spoke. "Controls are on his side, safe from frying yes, safe from the heat...no...look." From the window they could already see a slight shiver to Xavier's suit because of what the organism was doing.

She thought for a moment and looked at Xavier. "It only takes less than a second for those force fields to come down," she said. "A transporter lock and dematerialization takes a few seconds, but I've narrowed that down to a second and a half with the enhancers. Could you manage to stay away from it for that long if you brought the fields down?"

The Nurse rubbed his brow. "You are not listening!!! This is a Bio Examination Room under lock down, you can't beam him out, period, full stop, underlined. Besides look for yourself, that's a Grade 4A containment vessel, if it can break out of that what do you think it will do to him when that field goes down? It was on him the instant it was out and it will snap him in two."

"I am listening," BJ told the nurse. "You aren't answering my questions which I'm asking to try to help Doctor Patrovski and you're in my way! Get out!"

The Nurse stormed out muttering that a formal protest would be lodged. "BJ, he's right. Believe me I know, you can't get be out of here with the transporters, its hard coded to prevent you from contaminating the ship." Xavier spoke as it could be heard he was cold. "The only way I am getting out of here is through through those doors. You need to speak to the Chief, that's a mechanical thing, his domain."

She sighed and nodded. "Hold tight, Xavier," BJ said as she tapped her combadge. "We'll get you out there."

=^=Reign to Bradshaw. Report to Medical immediately and bring your tool kit and a Damage Control Specialist.=^=

=^= On my way. =^= I replied curious as to why I'd be needed in Sickbay. I grabbed what I needed and headed into Sickbay which I had to admit looked to have seen better days. I walked to the gathered officers. "What's going on?" I asked not quiet being able to see through the window inside the room from my position.

"We need to get these doors open," BJ said as she pointed at the doors leading to the room Xavier was in with the thing that was trying to get through the force fields.

I looked at the doors, these, were heavy duty isolation doors and were meant to keep stuff from getting out. I called up the design specs of the unit and I was in for a hard time. I thought for a moment as I considered my options. "I'll need a minute."

"Just make it as fast as you can," she said as she saw Xavier shivering. "Xavier, is there any way to control the environment in there from here?"

"Not from within the confines of a force field, I can't risk creating an opening to access anything and under lock down controls are suspended anyway." Xavier replied as he stared down his alien companion.

I looked at the designs for the room taking in the details and looking for anything I could use. "My only chance it cutting through, but that will take time." Problem was, this design was medical in nature, nothing in or out under lock down. Mag seals, suction belts, multi layer metal plating, all insulated. I'd have to burn through each layer in turn but that still left the issue of what ever is inside. "I have an idea, but its risky, like he could actually die from it risky."

"Ok, let's have it." Will spoke as while he was open to options, the lack of any also meant the need to hear all, even the risky ones."

"The outer door is a standard airlock door, getting through that isnt the issue. The inner door is, thats the problem. We can't cut through that before he dies, it wont open anyway because that thing is in there with him. What I can do is burn a hole, a small one into the door and feed warp plasma through it. It will kill anything in the room that isn't protected by a force field. Time though is the problem."

"I can cut through it faster with my phaser and I have a portable force field generator so that once you pump the plasma in, it won't be able to get back out," BJ said. "Neither will that thing in there with him."

"Sure, you could do that." I pulled up a diagram of the design plates and showed her the flaw in her plan. "Ma'am, with all due respect, can you leave the specifics to the actual engineer?" That irritated me, people thinking they knew better in a field I was a specialist in.

"A phaser lacks the pinpoint precision needed and the intensity duration required to burn through the last two inner plates in a given time. You also have to worry about heat, metal warp, plate shift. That door is not a solid slab, each layer in turn, with a modulating energy pattern for that layer. A phaser simply couldn't do it." I replied. "I understand you want him out, but believe me when I say, this way it the ONLY way its happening and again, respectfully, while Im explaining this to you could already trust the engineer and let him get to work." It was obvious that the situation was getting to the Chief of Security, I could understand he was her lover and I understood it, but it was effecting her judgement.

The Engineer was wrong about the pinpoint precision of phasers, not to mention the extreme settings that could vaporize duranium starting at setting six on them, but she would correct him on that another time. "Do it," BJ said as she moved to set up the force field unit. "The faster, the better."

I got to work straight away, linking up the systems to the cutter, placing a scanner to the door to be cut first and linking that to the monitor. The computer could control everything but I always liked to keep and eye on things just in case. "Sir, I'm going to need command approval to remove a quantity of warp plasma. I've already allocated it in the system but due to the hazardous nature of the stuff and its not leaving the ship through normal means, I need approval."

Will approved the request almost immediately, he trusted his Chief Engineer's appraisal of the situation and as he saw it, it was Xavier's only chance. He looked through the viewport and saw the alien creature with its strangle hold on the force field that was the only thing keeping Xavier alive. "How long will it take?"

Xavier began to shiver more and more as he stared down his alien companion intent on killing him. He wouldn't lie, he was scared and on the other side of the viewing window stood BJ. He'd just gotten engaged and things were taking a turn for the permanent worse. Xavier knew time was a factor, those doors were meant to hold up, keep anything in. They would fall in time but time was a luxury this creature was rapidly depriving him of.

An alarm sounded, Xavier's core body temperature was falling.

I heard the alarm, I didn't know what it meant but generally alarms were warnings of things not good. Getting the outer door open was not as hard as I thought, but then again it was a airlock type door, not a mag sealed, bio protected internal door which was what I had to cut through next. When the outer door opened I slapped on the scanner to the inner door and straight away the readings were not good. I knew the Commodore and Security Chief were watching so I tried to play it off but this would take time.

I stopped and walked out but my team continued to set up to attack the door. "Sirs, we have a problem. I've just completed a scan of the door, there is a Grade 8 security plate inside. Think of it like a glass plate in old earth style safes. It stops you from drilling it. If the plate breaks dead locks engage and the only way you open that door is with enough explosives to put a hole in the ship. If the locks engage the Doctor will die. I'm confident to attempt it but I can't rush it, it will take time. To buy it, I thought if we put radiators in the viewing booth and seal it, it will essentially become an oven." At least thats how I viewed it.

"Heat will emit through the window into the room, maybe it will help, maybe not but it might buy us some time and it needs to be hot."

The more the engineer talked instead of worked to free Xavier, the more BJ wanted to pistol whip him with her phaser until he cried for his mommy, but that wouldn't help Xavier. "He's dying in there, Bradshaw," she said. "Do whatever it takes, but do it quick. Time isn't a luxury. I'll start vaporizing everything on setting sixteen in five minutes."

"We are ready." My tech called.

"Let's begin." Even from inside the airlock we could feel the cold on the door. Some other engineers were piling heat generators into the observation booth and remotely turning them on. I didn't know if it was going to work but had to do something for the guy.

Xavier was shivering hard, this creature didnt take its gaze from him as he slid down to the floor. He couldn't see BJ anymore, just a room lit up yellow but he couldn't see what from. He was not sure how things were progressing but knew by the loss of feeling in his extremities that he was running out of time.

"Wow, wow wow stop stop." I yelled out as I glued my eyes to the scanner. The inner plate had cracked, the internal cold was working against them. I watched the temperature level off, had we pressed on the plate would have given and Xavier would have been trapped in there. "Ok, lower setting, longer duration. refocus the beam."

Will stood out of the way and could only watch. As helpless as BJ he could only let Bradshaw and his team work and hope they got Xavier out in time.

Another alarm sounded on a medical console manned by one of the on duty Nurses. "BP's is dropping, shallow breathing, I estimate he will lose consciousness in 3 minutes." The Nurse was clearly upset about the situation.

Xavier's shivering was fierce, confusion had set in as to why he was in this situation, he couldn't think straight and he was starting to feel tired. All he could manage was mumbles, slurred incoherent speech.

BJ pulled her phaser out and put it back in the holster, then pulled it out again. It seemed to be unconscious on her part, but she watched Xavier through the glass until he sank down and it took every bit of willpower she had to not start blasting a hole through the quarantined area.

It was painful at how long this was taking but care had to be taken, I didn't want to trap Xavier in there, I too wanted him to get out but if I rushed it then he'd be sealed in there. The slow and steady approach was working though, we were nearly through. "Have the plasma ready, rig up the injector." Another few minutes and we'd be ready.

Xavier's eyes closed, so sleepy. The cold seemed to become warm, his head lulled forward as he sat fully resting on the force field.

"He's lost consciousness. BP is still dropping." The minutes passed and then the unthinkable happened. The dreaded tone. The single, constant tone. Everyone knew what that meant. There was no mistaking it. "Hurry, you have a few minutes at most before total brain death, the cold is actually helping."

"Get the fucking plasma flowing in there now or you'll know pain like you never knew it before!" BJ shouted at Bradshaw as she drew her phaser and aimed it right at the man.

My team was already rigging the collar, we were seconds away from burning through the door. When I heard the Chief Security Officer barking I turned, then I saw her aiming a phaser at me. It was not the first time I'd been aimed at in my career, hell even Starfleet Security had pulled on me once or twice in my youth. While my team moved the plasma container into position, I stood up and looked at her. "When you can muster up some measure of control I suggest you think about what you have just done, and what it's going to cost you."

I turned my back to her, I had a job to do. She had lost her control, her faculties and now threatening, at gun point a fellow officer.

"COMMANDER...." Will barked. It was obvious that there was care for Xavier from BJ but James was right. Pulling a phaser on the man was over the top. "Put the weapon down and compose yourself this instant."

The plasma container was in place, seal was good. I opened the valve and the plasma started seeping into the room. Steady flow, pressure was holding and I peered through the small window. I had the guys turn off the radiators, and open the door. It was like a sauna in there. "Standby." What ever it was thrashed about the room as the plasma did it's work. I watched it seem to char, turn black and slowly at first fall apart. "Get ready to vent the room."

I knew as soon as the computer registered the organism was dead, no sign of bio contaminants. Once that thing was dead we got control back, we vented the room of the plasma and I could see over my shoulder the crash team ready. "It's good." Came the call and the door opened, the gear we used pushed aside as the door opened, some of it broken by the heavy door.

"Lower the force field......get in here." I called the crash team.

The crash team charged in almost knocking over one of the engineers. They began hypothermia treatment straight away, they needed to warm him up and get his heart going again. "Outside, by the door." That door was the door to the observation room where it bellowed heat like a cooker. Just what they would need. "Get his suit open and stand back." She leaned in and placed the device on his chest, a charge could be heart. "Clear."

Xavier's body lurched and then slumped. Nothing. "Going again." She wiped her brow, it was hot this close to the booth. Again Xaviers body lurched. The monitors told her that his body was getting hotter this close to the booth. "Clear." Things were not looking good. "Again. More power."

Xaviers body lurched but this time a tune could be heart, a faint one. "Lets get him out of here." There were smiles and tears all round as the party carried Xavier into the main Sickbay area where they would begin treating him.

When they freed Xavier from the force field and brought him out, BJ wordlessly handed her phaser to the Commodore, then removed her combadge and set it down before she went to where her fiance lay and watched as the medic did their job.

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