======= Shane's office, SB 234: UNITY
====
Engaged in the endless paperwork surrounding the position of
task force commander, Shane found it impossible to fight the
huge workload. All he could do was to retaliate the best he
could and hope not to get buried under all the PADDs,
requests and orders coming his way.
It was the usual 'read-a-PADD' followed with
'curse-the-sender' and then 'contact-the-sender' coming
along with
'thinking-how-the-hell-am-I-supposed-to-solve-this' when
Pakosii contacted him over internal comm., suggesting that
an important matter was on the other line. Shane knew his
aide and trusted into his abilities to filter most of the
less important business so he better accepted the
communication.
It was Rangi who appeared on the other end of the screen.
"Shane?" Rangi said calmly. "We have a potential problem."
Shane raised an eyebrow. It was not usual for Rangi to state
something like that without immediate explanation. "What
happened?" he asked.
"You remember the six rescued hostages from the Breen
freighter?" she asked, knowing that he was unlikely to
forget.
Shane nodded and Rangi continued.
"They had a little girl with them too and they were all sent
to the Medical research unit on Aphos?" She filled in the
details giving him time to recall it all.
"Yes, I remember them" he answered wondering why Rangi was
mentioning them now.
"Two of them died en route and the others didn't survive
long. Well, I've just been told that three crewmen are
exhibiting the same symptoms but the strange thing is that
all three worked in the unit."
Shane frowned: "That does not sound good to me. Where are
those crew members now?" he asked.
"Two took posts on the USS Scavenger...CMO and CScO...the
third one is on a different ship..the Wayfarer." she
replied. "I've asked ops to find the exact date they boarded
the ships and whether or not they've been in contact with
anyone else. There's no mention of anyone on Aphos having
problems but it's too much of a coincidence that three
persons should have the same thing."
Shane nodded: "I agree. That doesn't looks like
coincidence. What do you suggest?" he asked.
"Quarantine." she replied immediately. "The three are
isolated in sickbays but I'd advise both ships be put under
quarantine."
"Hmmm" Shane said, "that's really a radical way to go. To
be honest I am not fond about putting two ships out of duty
and quarantine them."
He was looking at her steadily from the screen and she had
adopted the same pose as he with arms resting on the desk
and fingers interlinked. Now she gave a slight shrug." I
know." she said "...and I understand it's not ideal but I
'do' think we need to be very careful."
"You still do not have a proof that those three crewmembers
have the same disease as those poor souls from the Breen
freighter, do you?"
"No." she answered quietly and shook her head. "It's just
that there are too many coincidences. I think it's
potentially very serious."
Shane nodded: "I do take the situation as serious, but
unless you have proofs that the disease endangers the crews
of USS Scavenger and USS Wayfarer, I am not willing to put
those ships under quarantine. Bring me the proof, and I do
as you suggest."
"Well that's just it." Rangi replied. "There is no actual
proof as yet but I'd err on the side of caution simply
because the biogenic research is on going."
"As for now, you can advise both command teams on Scavenger
and Wayfarer to minimize contact with the outside world but
let's keep it as advise only for the time being. Do you
agree?"
She had frowned and met his steady gaze with uncertainly.
"Very well." she replied" I'll do as you suggest but it's
with reservation. There's just something......." She left
the rest unsaid because in reality she had nothing more of
hard fact available. The three crewmen had been in contact
with the rescued hostages but had done so under the
strictest precautions. The hostages had died and no others
had become ill. She told herself that perhaps she was over
reacting and that perhaps it was all a coincidence. "Sorry
to have bothered you with it." she said, giving him a small
smile.
Shane smiled back at Rangi and said: "Do not apologize. I
can understand your point of view very well. You would be a
poor medical advisor if you would not care about such
events. It's just that I need more evidence before sending
whole crews into quarantine. Please keep me updated"
====== End of log ======
Cmdr. Rangi Summers
CMO, SB 234: UNITY
Medical Advisor, 1st TF, SSF Command
&
RAdm. Shane Guzman
CO, SB 234: UNITY
CO, 1st TF, SSF Command
