Lt. Robin Hopper: To Kill For
Robin Hopper
((OOC Note – There remain open Lekasa tags from prior to this sim.))
((Idrustix – “Mid-Islands Region”, Island 4, Valley))
Robin walked swiftly across the campsite, weaving through accommodation pods, phaser still at the ready as she unslung it from her shoulder. While she wasn’t prepared to go unarmed, it was going to get in her way. Her eyes scanned the treeline, darting from one source of movement to another.
Hopper: Ensign S’Raga – can you hear me? S’Raga?!
She removed her tricorder from her hip and, as she neared the downed Ensign, she dropped her phaser rifle on the ground beside him – courching and removing the detachable medical scanner from the tricorder, scanning his vitals. The Caitian’s eyes fluttered, but did not open.
S'Raga: R...Robin?..
Hopper: Yes. Yes, it’s me. You’ve been hit by fire, but you’re going to be okay. I’m assessing your injuries now so that I can stabilize y–
As she said that, he slumped. A glance at her tricorder told her that he was unconscious. Not comatose… more like sedated. She shook her head, trying to make sense of it. Robin wished Ikaia was here – or Alieth. They’d know what to do.
Robin did her best to recall the CRITICAL steps of Starfleet Combat Medicine. In her two years aboard the Wall Street, nothing like this had ever happened. She worried that her skills were rusty, untested… She was just going to have to do her best. While the others secured the area, she focused on identifying S’Raga’s injuries and how to treat them.
Ukinix(H): ::While still pointing phaser and staring ahead:: Tani, it looks clear, can you give Robin a hand?
Lekasa: Response
Grurg: ::Looking at her own tricorder:: The device is disabled, commander.
Ukinix(H): Then find out how that thing passed our sensors.
Grurg: Aye sir!
Ukinix(H): Hopper, report, how’s S’Raga.
Hopper: I’m trying to figure it out, but I’m a physicist, not a doctor. His vitals are going crazy.
Thankfully, the orbs weren’t firing tetryon beams, the injuries from which could be quite serious. All the same, things weren’t looking good. The Caitian had sustained superficial first degree burns where he had been struck, the front of his uniform and underlying fur singed and blackened.
Lohani: By the Four… Is he going to live?
Hopper: Yes… oO I $@#%ing hope so. Oo We should get him to cover as soon as I determine if he can be moved. ::To Lekasa:: Tani – I need an accommodation pod ready to go, okay? ::To Lohani:: If you want to help, bring me the case of hyposprays. He’s going to need an injection.
Vananth-Polgonz nodded, moving back into the campsite.
Ukinix(H): How’s he looking?
Lekasa: Response
More puzzling than the superficial burns he’d sustained was S’Raga’s elevated white blood cell count, histamine and tryptase levels, and plummeting blood pressure – it was as if the energy being emitted from the orb device had triggered some sort of hyper immune response. If that was the case… She ran the medical scanner over his trachea. His airways were closing up.
Hopper: I think he’s going into anaphylaxis… ::Shouting for Lohani:: I need those hypos. Now!
Lohani: Here, here…
The Betazoid noble rushed back over, passing Robin the case of hyposprays. Hopper opened it and grabbed one of the devices, calibrating it quickly to administer Adrenaline – a standard treatment carried on all away missions. Without wasting a second, she pressed to his neck and pressed the button. A small hiss indicated it had been administered.
Hopper: ::Taking a deep breath:: That should stabilize him – at least for now. ::Pulling the tricorder back out to monitor:: …Now, I need someone to help me move him.
S’Raga: ::Taking a deep, wheezy breath:: ... Ouch...
At the sound of her patient’s voice, Robin dropped the tricorder momentarily, letting it fall into the dirt. She reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder, the other hovering around his chest, where he’d taken the brunt of the energy blast. He was wheezing, clearly finding breathing more troubling than usual as his immune system went haywire.
Ukinix(H): ::to Tani:: Grab one of the long equipment covers, we’ll use that as a stretcher. ::To Lohani:: we’re going to help Robin roll him onto it. ::To Tani:: Can you cradle his head and keep it straight?
Lohani: I understand.
Lekasa: Responses
Robin turned to look at the Betazoids with concern in her eyes, but they seemed motivated. She turned back, picking up her tricorder and clipping it to her hip again. As they brought the equipment cover over, Robin moved around to the other side of S’Raga.
Ukinix(H): Everyone ready? One, two, three… lift!
As a group, they lifted the Ensign carefully onto the makeshift stretcher. Robin was keenly aware of how exposed they were out here. None of them could afford to be hit with that sort of… oO What was it even? A weapon? Oo But S’Raga was the most vulnerable and had to be taken to shelter.
Hopper: Once we get him to the shelter, I’ll need someone to stay with me and assist. ::A look to Ukinix and Grurg:: Do you think we’ll be able to secure a perimeter against more… intruders?
Lekasa: Response?
Grurg: ::To Wil:: Sir, The devices emit a radiation signature at the same frequency as the tachyon radiation. We can adjust our sensors to compensate.
Ukinix(H): Do it. Robin, treat S’Raga as best you can, Lohani stay with Robin if that’s okay.
Robin looked at Lohani. The stuffy noble had been a thorn in her side since they landed on the planet… but if the woman had, in fact, been part of a Betazoid resistance during the Dominion War, she must have some experience helping with wounded.
Lohani: ::A firm look:: Yes. Of course.
Hopper: Okay, let’s lift. Carefully.
Together, the group was able to move the stretcher into the campsite and into the nearest accommodation pod. It was a tight fit, and they had to lay the equipment cover on top of a crate, as it wouldn’t fit on the standard-issue cot within, but at least they had cover within. Robin breathed a sigh of relief as they set him down and looked around the group, nodding in appreciation to each one of them.
Hopper: ::Ragged breathing:: Thank you. Lohani and I will take it from here.
S'Raga was now able to keep his eyes open and he looked up at the science officer. Hopper had an expression of determination with a touch of concern as she consulted her tricorder.
Ukinix(H): Grurg, Tani, let’s go perform our own surgery.
As the other three left, Robin turned back to S’Raga, glad to see his eyes open once again – even if they still fluttered in mild shock. She drew a calming breath through pursed lips, her face serious and jaw tight with worry and determination.
She stepped over towards Lohani and pulled the noble aside, speaking to her softly.
Hopper: ::Quietly:: There’s not much we can do for him down here. Try to keep him stable, comfortable…
Lohani: ::Quietly:: You don’t need to hold my hand. I’ve seen far worse.
Robin tilted her head, a little stunned by Lohani’s statement, then nodded before turning back towards the Ensign. She tried to make her expression as reassuring as possible, hoping she looked like she believed that everything was going to be fine.
S'Raga: What's... What's happening to me?
S’Raga’s voice was hoarse – not unexpected given his near-brush with anaphylactic shock. Robin swallowed, stepping over towards him and taking his hand gently in hers.
Hopper: You are experiencing a high level immune system response after getting hit with some sort of energy… weapon. We’ve neutralized the device that shot you, and we’ve stabilized your vitals for now. I’ve given you a shot of epinephrine, which might be making you feel shaky, weak, nauseous…
Lohani: But it’s a lot better than dying.
Robin shot Lohani a look. The noble shrugged.
Hopper: ::To Lohani:: Thank you. That’s very helpful. ::To S’Raga:: You’re going to be fine. In fact, with some relatively basic treatment back aboard Amity you should recover fully. I’m sure you won’t even have a scar.
S'Raga: What... did this?
Hopper: Commander Ukinix and Grurg are investigating. Some sort of probe – almost certainly from the people who’ve trapped us down here. ::Turning to Lohani:: Please bring me a couple more hyposprays, I’d like to have them ready.
Lohani nodded and stepped out of the pod.
S'Raga tried to sit up, but Robin could tell he was struggling. She helped ease him back down to a prone position and then removed her tricorder and the medical scanner once again. She took a look at his vitals once more. They were holding, and the reaction was subsiding… but there was no telling how it had been triggered or whether or not it would continue to resurge without further treatment.
Hopper: Okay – not just yet. You’re recovering from anaphylaxis… and I’m going to have to keep monitoring you for some time before you get up and walk around. I don’t know how long that dose of epinephrine is going to keep you stable. I may have to administer more.
S'Raga: I need to work on contacting the others.
She put her hands on her hips, matter-of-factly.
Hopper: That is not your priority at the moment, Mr. S’Raga.
The noble returned, the case of hyposprays in her hands. Robin took them from her and began preparing another epinephrine hypo, just in case.
Lohani: They’re cutting it open and looking inside. Maybe we’ll have a toy to bring you, Ensign.
S'Raga let out a long, wheezy sigh.
S'Raga: I'm sorry your colony site visit was ruined, ...Ma'am.
The Betazoid woman half-laughed, half-scoffed.
Lohani: Hah. If I had listened to my own intuition I never would have set foot on this planet. The entire Delta Quadrant seems adamant in keeping us out. First it’s the Hirogen, then it’s a telepathic bacteria, now it’s these alien captors.
Even thought she was not paying close attention, something Lohani said gave Robin pause. She stopped loading the hypospray for a moment, turning around, trying to recall what the noble had just been saying a second ago.
S'Raga: My mom's not gonna like the next letter I send her...
Hopper: ::To Lohani:: What did you just say?
Lohani: This entire Quadrant is out to get us?
Hopper: No, no… You said the Hirogen and these hostile aliens, and…
Lohani: The bacteria. Frankly, I find that to be the most disturbing part of all this. At least we can try to fight back against the one–
Hopper: That’s it! ::Dropping the hypo, grabbing her tricorder and returning to scanning S’Raga:: Oh my god. It’s so obvious.
Lohani: ::A sideways glance to S’Raga:: Is it?
S’Raga: Response?
Before she could explain her thoughts, Commander Ukinix stepped through the entryway to the accommodation pod.
Ukinix(H): How’s the patient?
S’Raga: Response
Lohani: Lieutenant Hopper seems to think she’s onto something.
Hopper: I need some time to confirm my hunch. ::Looking up at Ukinix:: I might have an idea of why that probe attacked the way that it did.
Lekasa: Response?
At Ukinix’s gesture, Grurg produced an octagonal device to Hopper. As the Lieutenant brought it forward, the smell of it was enough to distract Robin from her work, as she stepped back from it.
Hopper: God! What is that?
Lohani: ::Smirking:: A toy. From the probe. You weren’t listening to me, were you?
Ukinix(H): I can’t make any engineering sense of what it is or how it works yet. Any ideas, Robin?
Hopper: ::A grossed out look from the octagon, up to Grurg, then over to Ukinix:: Engineering isn’t really my forté, Sir. However, that… ::crinkling her nose:: …ooze smells just like the bioneural fluid in my prosthetic.
She indicated her leg.
Hopper: It’s like… robot spinal fluid, I guess. They could be using a similar concoction to facilitate systems processing, sensory inputs. Like soaking your electronics in brain juice.
oO God, you are so tired. You’re just talking gibberish now. Oo
Ukinix at least didn’t seem to entirely discredit her theory. He turned to her patient, showing him the device.
Ukinix(H): S’Raga, I know you’re unwell, but do you have any ideas on how we could start messing with their comms… whoever “they” are?
Hopper: Now, hang on, Sir. Ensign S’Raga is still recovering from a traumatic injury and anaphylaxis. The last thing he needs is any more stress.
Ukinix(H)/S’Raga/Lekasa: Responses
Hopper: Fine. But I’m going to continue running my scans – so don’t move around too much.
She returned to her work, trying to follow her hunch. The readings came in, recording levels of the Geobacter Lucia bacterial colonies living within the Caitian Ensign. Without Ikaia’s inoculation he, and all the others, would likely be doubled over with flu-like symptoms – or worse, in the case of their Betazoid guests.
Ukinix(H)/S’Raga/Lekasa: Responses
Lohani: So, what can we do with this? Will we be able to affect their systems? Or can it help us regain communication with our own people?
Ukinix(H)/S’Raga/Lekasa: Responses
As the scan completed, Robin exclaimed with excitement, raising one hand in the air excitedly.
Hopper: Oh!!!
Noting the questioning gazes of the others, she lowered her arm and tucked the medical scanner back into the tricorder.
Hopper: I think I have a theory. Something that could help us avoid being attacked like that again… The probe hit S’Raga with a beam that triggered an immune response so severe that it could have killed him if we hadn’t intervened… But if they wanted to kill him, why not just use a kinetic energy weapon?
Ukinix(H)/S’Raga/Lekasa: Responses
Hopper: It's just a theory... But I don’t think they were trying to kill S’Raga, or any of us, at all. I think they’re trying to kill the Lucia bacteria. We’re all infected with it… It makes sense, right? ::Looking off to the side for a moment:: In an insane, murderous kind of way…
Ukinix(H)/S’Raga/Lekasa: Responses
TBC
