*** Sickbay * USS Chimera-C ***
Scott set the plate of sandwiches down beside Syrok.
"Cheese and...I dont know what that was." he said eyeing the
plate suspiciously. He took a seat and reached for a morsel,
chewing on it thoughtfully for a moment or two. " Tastes
like pasta!." he said under his breath. He leaned back in
his chair and stretched his acheing muscles.
He and Sryok had worked through the night and now sat in the
small med team lounge waiting for results to come through.
Syrok frowned... the human habit of eating whatever just
pleased them was a bit disgusting:
"If Commander Summers has been poisoned and if she was so
careless in her choice of food as you are, then perhaps we
already know the reason of her intoxication." he replied and
took a sip from his Vulcan tea. A lovely blank taste of
dishwater.
Scott chewed on thinking that Syroks attempt at sarcasm was
sadly lacking.
" Try one." he said pointing at the sandwiches."...you might
be surprised." He raised his own half eaten portion as
though making a toast, popped it into his mouth and grinned.
The look that Syrok gave to Scott was so cold that it could
probably manufacture a superconductive material. "No...
thank you. I believe it is time we return to the laboratory.
The results should be available by now."
Scott pushed himself to his feet, swallowing the last of his
sandwich and followed Syrok out of the lounge. The tests had
been inconclusive and some had been refined. It was in these
that the two doctors hoped to find a solution. They walked
step in step back to the research department.
**
Syrok focused his attention back to the console. There had
to be an answer. It just wasn't obvious. He reviewed the
multispectral results but it showed no sigh of any toxins or
anomalous elements in the organism.
"All right, we need to take a look to the submolecular
level."
He pressed a few buttons to enhance the resolution and
suddenly he noticed something in the villi intestinales
membrane.
"Look at this, what do you think it might suggest?" he said
to the Scott.
Scott too had his attention on the screen. " Go back a
second." he said suddenly leaning more forward."
There....and there...do you see it?"
"Indeed, the Jejunus membranes." The part of the small
intestine that is responsible for food procesing and
nutrients absorbtion looked different.
"The enzymes that usually break down the more complet
elements are not present at all and the membrane itself
seems not to be semipermeable anymore."
He tapped a few more commands and the display changed again
now showing the genetic structure of the intestine.
"Here, there have been a slight change in the genom. Very
insignifficant so the scans didn't picked it up, but really
complex and localized that they have triggered the reaction
that prevented her body from absorbing any nutrients at all.
Now we just have to find out how to reverse it."
" Too simple to be considered!" Scott said." Isnt that what
they say?..the most obvious thing is right in front of you?
Enzyme inhibiters and we overlooked that."
He slapped Syrok on his arm " We got it." he said as though
everything was solved in a moment.
It wasn't ofcourse and next moment he grew more serious.
" I have to inform the Commodore of the findings " he said."
For one thing he's worried sick about Rangi and for
another..she might not be the only one affected in this way.
We have no idea where this originated."
He turned away then stopped and looked back at the Vulcan
doctor.
" Do you recall an incidence in the Sol Draconis system?" he
asked. " A small colony died there didnt it? Am I right in
thinking they starved to death...or at least appeared to
have done so?...but wasnt there plentiful food supplies?"
"Perhaps, but as far as I know there hasn't been any
investigation on that matter. Please inform the Commodore
and then we will focus on repairing the DNA sequences. I'd
suggest a retrovirus as a carrier of the changes."
"Please begin preparations." Scott said." I'll be back in
few minutes."
He turned awayand still thinking over the half remembered
case, headed for the CMOs office.He was sure the Sol
Draconis system was relatively close to Romulan space.
{The colony had been mostly miners hadnt it} he asked
himself. It annoyed him not to have the full history come
to mind but he knew the Commodore would either be aware of
it or would find out soon enough. The main point was that
there was a link, if only a tentative one, with Romulans.
*** End Log ***
Lt Sryok
AMO
USS Chimera-C
(npc by Terek)
&
Lt Scott Fisher
ACMO
USS Chimera-C
