11-21-2025, 01:08 AM
In her time as a Starfleet officer Robin had seen some terrible things. They sometimes kept her up at night, with crystal-clear memories sometimes popping up as if her brain was playing sadistic pranks on her. Bodies burned and mutilated. Officers kept in absolute squalor. A starship filled with dead, frozen corpses. But the conditions in the slave pen were at the top of that list. The few survivors lived in appalling conditions and obviously hadn't been fed in a long while. Bodies were everywhere. The odor was indescribable, especially to her enhanced sense of smell. She could taste it and it took every bit of her self discipline to keep from retching. She relied on a Vulcan technique she'd learned during nurse's training at the Academy, one that had kept her from vomiting on more than one occasion.
One approached the away team, an emaciated Vorta. "Please don't hurt us."
“All personnel, do not cross the line into that pen. Robin, that’s a direct order, and I will drag you back by your belt if you make me. I know you want to help but we need to make sure this is safe first. Tell me what you can of their condition from here."
The nurse felt a flash of anger, the emotion mixing with her horror.
An order? Yeah, I wouldn't want to violate one of those. What do you take me for, Mara, a fresh-out-of-the-Academy middie? I'm not about to go charging in before Security checks the place. But I'm getting really tired of you not taking me seriously as an officer.
She shook the irritation off and focused on the job. It simply wasn't important right now. She pulled the tricorder off her belt and began scanning the poor souls. The sensitive device immediately began giving a list of problems starting with the obvious... malnutrition and dehydration. Several had infections and open sores. But that wasn't the worst of it. Their bodies were breaking down. Robin's eyes went wide for a moment at the tricorder's display before self-discipline reasserted itself. It wasn't the same condition that had nearly killed her as a child, but it was similar enough to bring back feelings of helplessness and pain.
But this is worse than Turean’s Syndrome. That took years to do its damage. This is killing them quickly, and based on preliminary scans there's nothing that can be done.
Based on her own life she knew full well what was required. A proper DNA resequencing to that level took months of careful work in a top genetics hospital like the one on Adigeon Prime. They didn't have months. They didn't likely have days.
To her credit Mara had removed her helmet's breather and addressed the leader, the Vorta who called himself Wen. That was good. No point in showing horror at the conditions even if it was natural. History buff that she was, the Augment instantly recognized the two clones approaching despite their condition. Wen was a clone of Weyoun and Dat was Dukat.
"Can you help us?"
Robin gave a sad smile. "We'll do everything we can." She hated the emptiness of her words. It was the sort of thing she'd had to say to dying people more than once, especially after the Megasphere battle. They wanted hope and she had none to give, but she wasn't going to lie to them.
The Artemis CMO waited for Mara to complete her job of securing the room and giving orders to her team, saying nothing but giving the Security Chief a discrete glance to the side and tilt of the head to indicate that she wanted to talk to her away from the ears of the Klingons' victims. When the Bandaran was free Robin talked to her in a side room, far enough away that the Vorta (who had excellent hearing) wouldn't pick up the words.
"Those two are Weyoun and Dukat clones. Their bodies are breaking down." She swallowed hard, then continued. "I'll need to do more detailed scans, but honestly it doesn't matter. There's nothing that can stop it." There was obvious moisture in her eyes but she kept her professional demeanor. "Recommend we provide what material comforts we can outside of this hellhole. Maybe secure another room in the facility and use it as triage. We can get food and water from the shuttle. If we can find some living quarters that would be best. I can clean them up."
She wanted to beam them to the Artemis and at least make sure they were comfortable and clean in their passing... but she couldn't. Compassion had to be controlled.
"I'll also need to make sure they're not carrying any kind of disease that could be transmitted to us... and I'm not talking about the sniffles. Entire ships have been lost to this sort of screwing with genetics when it creates diseases accidentally. You know, like the Brittany." Not that Mara needed the reminder of that horror show. She sighed. "We'll just have to do what we can here. I just wish we'd taken a prisoner, as unlikely as that was. We still don't know why the Klingons were doing any of this." The anger in her voice was uncharacteristic of the gentle nurse. She felt cold hatred for the Klingons, and wasn't trying to hide it.
== Tag Mara ==
One approached the away team, an emaciated Vorta. "Please don't hurt us."
“All personnel, do not cross the line into that pen. Robin, that’s a direct order, and I will drag you back by your belt if you make me. I know you want to help but we need to make sure this is safe first. Tell me what you can of their condition from here."
The nurse felt a flash of anger, the emotion mixing with her horror.
An order? Yeah, I wouldn't want to violate one of those. What do you take me for, Mara, a fresh-out-of-the-Academy middie? I'm not about to go charging in before Security checks the place. But I'm getting really tired of you not taking me seriously as an officer.
She shook the irritation off and focused on the job. It simply wasn't important right now. She pulled the tricorder off her belt and began scanning the poor souls. The sensitive device immediately began giving a list of problems starting with the obvious... malnutrition and dehydration. Several had infections and open sores. But that wasn't the worst of it. Their bodies were breaking down. Robin's eyes went wide for a moment at the tricorder's display before self-discipline reasserted itself. It wasn't the same condition that had nearly killed her as a child, but it was similar enough to bring back feelings of helplessness and pain.
But this is worse than Turean’s Syndrome. That took years to do its damage. This is killing them quickly, and based on preliminary scans there's nothing that can be done.
Based on her own life she knew full well what was required. A proper DNA resequencing to that level took months of careful work in a top genetics hospital like the one on Adigeon Prime. They didn't have months. They didn't likely have days.
To her credit Mara had removed her helmet's breather and addressed the leader, the Vorta who called himself Wen. That was good. No point in showing horror at the conditions even if it was natural. History buff that she was, the Augment instantly recognized the two clones approaching despite their condition. Wen was a clone of Weyoun and Dat was Dukat.
"Can you help us?"
Robin gave a sad smile. "We'll do everything we can." She hated the emptiness of her words. It was the sort of thing she'd had to say to dying people more than once, especially after the Megasphere battle. They wanted hope and she had none to give, but she wasn't going to lie to them.
The Artemis CMO waited for Mara to complete her job of securing the room and giving orders to her team, saying nothing but giving the Security Chief a discrete glance to the side and tilt of the head to indicate that she wanted to talk to her away from the ears of the Klingons' victims. When the Bandaran was free Robin talked to her in a side room, far enough away that the Vorta (who had excellent hearing) wouldn't pick up the words.
"Those two are Weyoun and Dukat clones. Their bodies are breaking down." She swallowed hard, then continued. "I'll need to do more detailed scans, but honestly it doesn't matter. There's nothing that can stop it." There was obvious moisture in her eyes but she kept her professional demeanor. "Recommend we provide what material comforts we can outside of this hellhole. Maybe secure another room in the facility and use it as triage. We can get food and water from the shuttle. If we can find some living quarters that would be best. I can clean them up."
She wanted to beam them to the Artemis and at least make sure they were comfortable and clean in their passing... but she couldn't. Compassion had to be controlled.
"I'll also need to make sure they're not carrying any kind of disease that could be transmitted to us... and I'm not talking about the sniffles. Entire ships have been lost to this sort of screwing with genetics when it creates diseases accidentally. You know, like the Brittany." Not that Mara needed the reminder of that horror show. She sighed. "We'll just have to do what we can here. I just wish we'd taken a prisoner, as unlikely as that was. We still don't know why the Klingons were doing any of this." The anger in her voice was uncharacteristic of the gentle nurse. She felt cold hatred for the Klingons, and wasn't trying to hide it.
== Tag Mara ==