Stardate: 70123:2201
Title: Medical Mysteries
Author: Lieutenant Jenna
Time: After "Seeking Answers"
Scene: USS Relentless, berthed at other universe Starbase 9
Maxine still had problems believing that Captain Merdlock had taken his own
life, and even more so now that the medical scans had shown Anthrax to be the
culprit. She didn't doubt that the Captain would have been under enormous stress
after the loss of his vessel, but he just didn't seem the type; he was too
cowardly, too scared. And Anthrax as a 'suicide pill' was a little more than
strange.
Her historical knowledge and biology were not as good as some, and so she
consulted with the Relentless's databanks. Anthrax (Anthracis Bacillus) had been
a naturally occurring bacterium for as far back as the databanks recorded, but
had become more renowned as a potential weapon during the early 20th century,
and during the latter half of that century scientists of the time had worked
hard to create a weaponised version. During the 21st century this weaponised
version had been deployed by terrorists on the African sub-continent, and an
effective vaccine was produced only a few years later.
But, in either form, the bacterium should have been picked up by the transporter
filters and removed from the system, unless the filters were not working...
No, Maxine had checked these and everything was in order - there were no major
items recorded and the system showed no signs of being subsequently tampered
with, although this would not have stopped the bacteria being removed during the
transport anyway.
Which only left one possible explanation - that the Anthrax had been created
onboard the Relentless! She shuddered at the thought, but was reminded of an old
adage attributed to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's creation, the famous Sherlock
Holmes: 'When the impossible is removed, whatever remains, however improbable,
must be the truth.'
A feeling of deja vu shuddered down her spine once more at the thought of a
killer amongst their midst.
=/\= Science Lab 1 =/\=
The sensor equipment scanned the isolated Anthrax culture down beyond the
subatomic level. Everything looked as she would expect to see from replicated
matter - the too perfect and unnatural alignment of the matter was a clear
indication, but not one she and Cory could have been expected to notice during
their initial tests.
Since the replicators contained an extensive list of forbidden items that could
not be programmed to create the bacteria, then that left only those with the
knowledge and access to the resources who could have done it, or someone with
enough computer skills to override the forbidden list. Since the list was an
integral part of the replicator systems, any tampering would have rendered the
unit useless, and so she was left once again with the thought that someone with
knowledge of bacteria had created it.
She turned around, looking at her department with a level of suspicion and
unease...
Tapping her combadge, she asked Ensign Adams to meet her in the Science Lab
immediately; her subsequent investigation into the Anthrax had definitely been
mentioned aloud on one or more occasion, and she wanted a Security escort. Maybe
it was paranoia, but she was willing to take that risk.
~
Laurence watched on as she continued studying the bacterium. She hadn't been
able to shake off the feeling of deja vu since the rescue of the freighter crew
and passengers and the recovery of the Omega bomb. The face that eluded her
continuously, the one that she had lost in the sea of faces.
Looking at the sample once more, other peculiarities started to stand out; the
virus had been altered to not reproduce further and thus limiting infection and
the antigenic coding was modified to help suppress and counter the body's
defenses. Trademark signs of an engineered disease designed to kill or
incapacitate a small number of victims.
She looked on at the small bacterium. So small, yet so deadly, and even more so
than nature had intended.
GALT!
The name hit her like a thunderclap. How could she be so stupid to think any of
her people could do this. It had all the hallmarks of the assassin she had
formally known from her assignment on Centrica.
Tapping her combadge again, she initiated a high security lockdown of all
science systems before contacting the Captain...
===================
Lieutenant Maxine Jenna
Chief Science Officer
USS Relentless
NCC-11966
===================
