JL| Lt. Keál, Doc "Bugs Bite!"

Posted on 241508.26 @ 10:49am by Lieutenant Keál & Doc

Mission: Agua Mala
Location: Sickbay, USS Enterprise, (NCC-1701-F)

=/\=Sickbay=/\=
With the Stenellis at bay for the moment and negotiations proceeding at a snails pace, Keál decided to take advantage of the down time to catch up on some long overdue paperwork. He had not yet been made aware of the circumstances under which the former Chief Medical Officer had departed the ship but one thing was for certain, the medical staff had been unable or unaware of dealing with the mountains of reports, charts, and medical histories now backlogging his desk terminal. Dozens of half filled out reports on minor cuts and scratches along with a multitude of sprains and strains made up the bulk of the reports. There was a case of Cardassian Mumps, which had no treatment course recorded in the chart as well as countless forms that were not signed off by attending nurses. Keál would have his hands full retraining his staff to meet the needs of the Starfleet paper bureaucracy, an issue he would solve in short order.

As he neared the end of the backlog, Keál came across the medical file of a fellow Caitian. Though the chart said he was sixteen several things struck the doctor as odd about the chart. As Caitians go, this one was rather underweight. At his age he was also somewhat under-height. Keál began to wonder if this youth had been the runt of the litter. As he read on through the medical history, Keál began to better understand the environmental factors that had seeming stunted the boy's growth. The final entry of the chart was perhaps most disturbing to the doctor, "Patient continues to worsen despite the removal of the cystic mass behind his right orbital socket. Complains of pain in the right foot where scans show another mass developing rapidly. Diagnostic scans of the cellular structure of the cysts show hexagonal filaments composed of carbon. A biological secretion was present along the walls of the structure which did not match the patients genetic makeup. Multiple treatments have been applied to no effect and it has been determined the patient should be preserved in stasis until such time as a new course of treatment may be administered." Once again the chart entry wasn't logged with an identity code. Keál shook his head as he tapped his commbadge. "Doctor Keál to Sh'eik."

Instantly the computer responded, "Sh'eik is currently in stasis pod three. He is unable to respond to your query at this time."

Keál's eyebrows shot up and his tail began to twitch. The entry in Sh'eik's medical log was dated for several months ago. Had the medical staff left the boy in stasis for that long? Standing up from his desk, the Caitian doctor made his way out of sick bay and into the corridor that wound around the stasis lab on deck ten. The room lighting was currently set to low and Keál didn't bother to raise it. His Caitian eyes could see much better in the dark than could the average humanoid. Eight pods lined the starboard wall of the room, all with lids raised save one. Pod three softly hummed and the patient display above the encapsulated bio-bed displayed the vitals of a young male Caitian. "Hmm..." Keál looked at the scans of the preserved boy, noticing several differences in his physiology. His skull was slightly elongated to allow for the extension of his longer canine teeth. The variants in his skeletal system did not stop there, his rib cage was also thicker and the ribs were nearly fused. He pulled up the patient's chart on his P.A.D.D. and confirmed his suspicion, "Kzinti." The word rolled over his lips with a tinge of disgust, not for the patient but for his paternal heritage.

Caitians and Kzinti were thought by most scientist to have shared a common ancestor, though both species would eagerly debate that. Caitians were omnivores often enjoying a rich and nutritious diet of flora and fauna. The Kzinti were brutal, savage, barbaric, warmongers who ate only meat. Or so Keál had been told throughout his younger years. In the past hundred or so years very few Caitians had even seen a Kzinti as they had become a somewhat rare species. This was due in no small part because of their war like nature and the poor treatment of their females. There were extensive records on the war minded race in the Starfleet Database, as even the Federation, in there infancy, had been to war with the Kzinti. Caitians were known galaxy wide as a species prone to diplomacy, easy character, and scientific thinking, yet so ingrained was the hatred for their genetic brethren that they could not find it within themselves as a culture to forgive the atrocities of the past. If a Caitian could conceive of holding a grudge in the social order of their society it would be against the Kzinti.

Keál interfaced his tricorder with the stasis pod, noting the nearly nonexistent vitals of a patient in stasis. He also noticed that his tricorder scan indicated no growth in the size of any of the cysts. "Well kit, you have that much going forrr you." Keál purred as he took toxicity and blood chemistry scans. As he reviewed the scans, something strange caught his eye. There were traces of the same biological secretion working its way the wrong way through the young Caitians blood stream. Keál ran the possibilities through his mind. With the combination of a strange biological secretion, counter-circulatory flow, and large cysts which developed rapidly the options for diagnosis were relatively limited. The most obvious was that there was a parasite in the boy's blood stream. Scan after scan turned up nothing biologically or synthetically viable though.

Perplexed by the information at hand and unwilling to leave the young Caitian in stasis indefinitely, Keál returned to his office to make a few subspace calls and to consult with the ships EMH. His first call was the Science Academy in the Regulus system. Founded by the Caitians, the Academy was a repository of information on everything Caitian related, including medical knowledge. The second call Keál made went unanswered, for it seemed the doctor that had previously treated Sh'eik was incommunicado for the time being. Finally Keál frustrated with his lack of answers, decided to consult a physician for which he had begun to develop a growing respect. "Computerrr, activate the ships EMH program." With that, the large avian doctor appeared as if transported to the room. "Doc, I have a problem and need your help to solve it." Keál handed Doc the P.A.D.D. which now contained a complete workup of the young Caitian, Sh'eik. "Everything points to a parasite but scans keep turning up noting but the trails of foreign secretions." Keál's R's were almost roars as he spoke with the signs of frustration heavy in his voice.

Inclining his head thoughftfully as he read the P.A.D.D., Doc took a few moments and then replied "Your research into this patient's situation is admirable Doctor. I concur that it would be beneficial to determine source of these secretions." His eyes darted back and forth as he accessed his program's memory. After a moment he added " My database does have records of various techniques to deal with situations such as this. The most successful solution, albeit the most risky, is to use nanites to search for the parasites. Would you like me to bring up all information about this solution?"

Keál wondered how nanites could be effective against a parasite that did not register on bio-scans. "Is it feasible to have the nanites trrrack the parrrasite via the secrrretions it leaves? Follow the trail of bread crrrumbs, so to speak?"

Bobbing his head happily, Doc replied with a slight whistle "Yes exactly Doctor. They can be programmed with a single purpose, in this case, eradication of the parasite, and won't stop until their jobs are done."

"As usual, you have been most helpful Doc. Computerrr deactivate the Emerrrgency Medical Hologrrram." Keál said as the avian doctor vanished from sight. With his task laid out and the opportunity to help a fellow Caitian at hand, Keál set to work on the nanites programing immediately.

=/\= End Log =/\=

Lt. Keál
Chief Medical Officer
USS Enterprise, NCC 1701-F

Doc (NPC Apb Cliff)
Emergency Medical Hologram
USS Enterprise, NCC 1701-F