Stardate: 71010:2100
Title: Indirect
Author: Ensign Colón
Time: Current
Scene: Sickbay


His body convulsed with great force against the bed in sickbay. Nurse Bunter wore an expression of worry for the young Ensign; it had been an hour since Gabriel had arrived in Sickbay and it looked as if he had gotten worse. Whatever the Rennas had done to him, Gabriel was suffering from the inside. The Starfleet medical database didn't have anything on record like this and so Dr. Matthews simply tried to counteract the toxins in the Ensign's blood one at a time. Nurse Bunter placed a hand on Gabriel’s right arm - it was twitching again just as it was fifteen minutes ago.

“Doctor Matthews, Gabriel’s body is reacting harshly to the medication. Do you think we should try antibody injections?” The nurse asked.

Doctor Matthews looked around the room; this encounter with the Rennas had filled the sickbay with casualties.

“Keep up with the Ensign’s medication, slow the re-injection time to twenty minutes. And yes, inject him with antibodies; it may be that his immune system will help him breakdown whatever is in his system,” Ted concluded, walking over to a nearby console.

Although the analysis of the bone had confirmed it as human and female, Ted continued to try to determine when the Rennas had come into contact with humans before, when Gabriel’s body started to convulse violently again. Nurse Bunter pressed the button beside the Ensign’s bed indicating a code red emergency. Ted dropped the datapadd running over to Gabriel’s side. “What just happened?”

“I don’t know Doctor. I injected him with the antibodies, but his body is attacking them as quickly as they enter into his system; his body is treating them as if they were a foreign agent,” Nurse Bunter stated, looking to his vital signs. “His heart rate is off the charts; if it doesn't drop soon his heart will experience irreversible damage.”

Ted reached over for a blood-thinning agent and injected Gabriel with it. Within seconds the Ensign’s heart rate went from being in the high 170’s back down to a more normal 83 beats per minute. Both Nurse Bunter and Ted sighed in relief. Placing his hand under Gabriel’s neck, elevating it and looking into his yellow-colored eyes, Ted spoke matter-of-factly.

“Ensign, listen to me. I know you are in there somewhere but you need to help us fight this. I'm not about to lose another of my officers, you hear me?”

As Ted turned back towards one of the other patients, a hand reached out and grabbed his arm. He turned to see Gabriel standing before him. He was not the same - his body seemed to look stronger, his muscles more defined, the white of his eyes a pale yellow and his face very harsh and cold-looking.

“Doctor, I can help you,” he answered...


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Ensign Gabriel Colón
Medical Officer
USS Horizon
NCC-72400
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