Mission One: Operation Starbase

||Starbase 12
||Counseling Offices
||August 2, 2387
||1320


"Understood, Captain,"

At first Shelley's eyes were glazed over with tears enough that she could barely see, and no amount of dabbing at them with her sleeves seemed to help, but the farther she got from the office, the easier things became. Everyone was now finding places to hide be it their quarters or some other place that they felt the most safe and Shelley couldn't blame them at all--she would kill to be safe right now. No, not kill. 'Kill' was the wrong word and she certainly didn't want to kill anyone, but right now she wanted to be somewhere that she felt she couldn't be touched and that was her office. She had locked herself in her office plenty of times and right now seemed as good a time as any, so she found her way to her office and she quickly went inside.

After keying in the code to lock herself in, she went to sit at her desk even though she knew that a security officer could get in--or an engineer as they could override if they tried. Still, she felt like she was safe to curl up and cry, taking as deep a breath as she could and shaking her head because it felt like everything was happening all over again and she didn't like the sight of so much blood coming out of a person and while she hadn't died in her arms, she was close to her. More than anything right now, Shelley wanted to be in her quarters, but until the culprit was caught she was just going to stay here and when the coast was clear she would take a much needed long sleep.

"I just want this to be over..." she whispered into her arms.


<Tags: Any>

||Starbase 12
||Sickbay
||August 2, 2387
||1332 hours


Tay'Li stomped into Sickbay in a huff. Deck 12, section 5 had been her favorite spot on the Promenade and the fact that it had been decompressed made her angry. Lieutenant Carter had just returned from a lengthy vacay on Qo'Nos, and found the station in chaos. She didn't even care that he was under quarantine, she needed answers, as she shoved a blonde teal-shirted woman out of her way, who was working on something near a force field Gan and a red-headed Bajoran woman were behind.

"Gan, you little petaQ. I was gone for two months, and I come back to find people dead, and you in charge...Who's the red head, and why is she hanging out with you?" She fumed, though the last part was just teasing her old friend.

"Bakel Marlo, Chief Engineer--though it's not really hanging out when you're quarantined."

"What'd you do? Eat the replicator's blood worms? Those things are better fresh." Tay'Li nodded.

Marlo made a face. "Umm, no...I'm not actually a fan of Klingon food--it kind of disgusts me, to be honest."

Tay'Li shrugged; Klingon food wasn't for everyone, and if someone didn't like it she wasn't going to label them something horrible. She scrunched up her nose briefly and looked around, at all the random crew members in the infirmary. She'd brought a small security detail, that were lounging by the door.

"You two would make a really cute couple--forget the rules. Anyways, I'm here for a lead on these attacks. What have you got for me--any clues?" Tay'Li asked.

Marlo blushed and looked away from Gan. Tay'Li pretended not to notice, and leaned against a medical console, crossing her arms over her chest. She really wanted to finish this once and for all and keep Gan in line when he was in Command--if she could keep him from killing anyone else, her work would be done.

"We've only gotten 2, deck 12 section 5 and our Chief Counselor is dead." Marlo admitted, coughing.

"Then I'm on my way to the Counseling offices. Come, on ladies; we're going hunting." Tay'Li told her all male security detail, making them all grumble under their breath.

"She's very...colorful. I like her." Marlo said, as the four yellow shirts left Sickbay.

||Starbase 12
||Sickbay
||August 2, 2387
||1335

He shrugged his shoulders after watching Tay'Li storm in then storm right back out. The encounter intrigued him, he hadn't expected her back today. There might have been a missive telling him of her arrival on his desk in his Ready Room, but he hadn't read it if there was. But today had been a busy day so maybe it had slipped his mind. It seemed like before he could even get a word out the woman was gone again. He shook his head, "Well at least security will have more heads to clear up this thing. She's very thorough, to say the least." He laughed slightly at Marlo's comment, "She can be a little rough around the edges, but I like her too." He remembered back to before he had been given command and had had encounters with Tay'Li. She was a good person and a good friend. It would be nice to have another familiar face around. He looked to Marlo and then imagined them together in a mirror and nodded to himself. "Though I have to agree with the Commander's assessment, we would make a cute couple." He grinned widely, leaning over to elbow the Lieutenant in the ribs lightly, "Eh?" He laughed merrily before laying back down in his own biobed.

After a few minutes which felt like hours, Gan finally felt his lids grow heavy and for the first time that day he passed out. All the stress and the attack his body was under just knocked him out, and he needed a little bit of sleep. Not that his fevered dreams certainly wouldn't be interesting. It would be good for him to get a little bit of rest before the resolution of the situation and the cure for their affliction was found.

||Starbase 12
||Sickbay
||August 2, 2387
||1335


Marlo was having more problems breathing than before, and she laid down on her bio bed. That half Klingon was quite the character, but at least she seemed like she could get the job done. Something else seemed to be happening here like the atmosphere was thinning. But Marlo blushed once more, and closed her eyes. It wasn't like she could do anything from where she was at right now anyways--Hopefully everything would go back to normal soon.

"That we would." She muttered under her breath as she turned over.

||Starbase 12
||Counseling Offices
||August 2, 2387
||1420


Tay'Li had never been one to be stopped by locked doors, and all the courses in Engineering before she'd changed her focus to Security, had helped to prepare her for what she was about to do. One of the offices was locked, and Tay'Li had the world's biggest hunch that every fact she needed was on the other side of the office door.

Later she'd find the Engineer in charge of fixing things while, the chief was incarcerated with Gan in Sickbay. She had a lot of ground to cover, with her late arrival. Honestly, Gan couldn't even keep control for twenty four hours, before something went horribly wrong.

"Stand back, ladies. I'll handle this." Tay'Li teased.

"Ma'am, we're all grown men...please stop calling us ladies."

Tay'Li rolled her eyes at her junior officer, Greton. He always got so sensitive when she insulted them but they really did love working with her, before the accident, and now that she was back, it was like the old team never separated at all. There weren't many security officers who knew how to disable a lock in forty seconds flat.

"Suck it up, Princess." She laughed, pulling the panel off the wall, and crossing a couple wires.

The door slid open at her will.

"Hey...I need answers and I think you're the one to give them to me. My name's Tay'Li, counselor."


<tags Shelley>

||Starbase 12
||Counseling Offices
||August 2, 2387
||1424

Shelley didn't quite know what to do.

She had cowered when she knew the system was being hacked into, and she had definitely thought about equipping herself with a weapon and grabbed a trophy on her desk before getting up. There was no way that she was going to be stuck here, caught in this, her heart pounding away in her chest as she her mind ran through all sorts of scenarios that could possible pop up. Thankfully, it was simply a security team and that made sense...after finding Julianne's body, a security team was bound to come and she had found the dead body. That made her the person to talk to, but regardless of what the half-Klingon said, Shelley didn't really know anything.

"All I know is that she was dead when I found her," Shelley managed to say as she set the trophy down and tried to calm herself down. "The only person she was supposed to see today was Jason Cobalt. He's been seeing her four times a week to cope with the loss of his pregnant wife during the incident and I don't...I don't remember seeing him today, though. I refuse to implicate him when he hasn't been here, I'm just stating facts. Something is happening and someone is behind it and I don't understand what is happening. All I know is that I'm scared and that the culprit must be caught..."


<Tags: Tay'Li, Any>

||Starbase 12
||Counseling Offices
||August 2, 2387
||1426

"I suppose it would be too easy to check the security feeds, and find out if this Jason showed up?" Tay'Li whirled on her team. "Tell me you checked the vids."

Her team looked around sheepishly, and she tilted her head to one side angrily, as she glared at them. This is what happened when she was gone for two months. There was no one to keep them in line--so they didn't do their jobs properly. They were grown men with experience in their field and she shouldn't have to hold their hands every step of the way. Shaking her head, she walked over to the wall console, and after punching in her security ID, pulled up the counseling office security footage. She paused it as a male entered the room, and pointed at the figure on the screen.

"Is that Jason Cobalt?" She asked the woman in blue.

She was newly returning, and didn't know many faces, and had to rely on outside help. If it turned out to be Jason, she'd owe her team a round of pain-sticks for their failure to come up with a culprit, as well as the boring job of slowly and painstakingly going every ounce of footage to find something useful. This Cobalt guy, may not have been the one doing all the damage, but the head counselor was certainly alive when he'd come in...but this counselor said she hadn't seen him come in at all...something was very wrong here.


<tags to Shelley & any>

||Starbase 12
||Counseling Offices
||August 2, 2387
||1428

"I...I..."

Shelley wasn't really in the mood, but she had to be stronger and not just because she was in the presence of a scary and intimidating half Klingon. Taking a deep breath, Shelley moved over to the console that Tay'Li was at and watched the footage as she played it back for her and paused again. The time stamp showed that Shelley had been in a meeting and she nodded quickly because that was Jason...that was him leaving but until a coroner could determine the time of death of the Chief Counselor, pinning him would be harder than anticipated.

"That's him..." Shelley confirmed taking a breath. "Am I excused to go to my quarters?"


<Tags: Tay'Li, any>

||Starbase 12
||Sickbay
||August 2, 2387
||1430


Cecily smiled at her work, going over to the forcefield and letting it down. She had been trying her best to make sure that the virus was no longer passable, treating the air in the quarantined zones as well and she was proud to say she was well on her way to a cure. At the moment though, Marlo neededd to help Gabe fix the base and Gan needed to help find the culprit behind all of this. Whether they liked it or not, she had a temporary fix, but it also had a limit.

"This stimulant I'm giving both of you will keep you in tip top shape for two hours, but then it will make you feel just as gross as you do now, if not more tired," she explained to them, giving them both the innoculation. "By then I should have a cure. Try not to sneeze on or exchange bodily fluids with the healthy people though because this thing can still be passed that way until I get it more under control. In a few minutes you guys should be feeling pretty good."

It was just a little fix, but right now it was the best idea that she had and she was proud of herself for coming through. At this rate she wouldn't even need Lillian and that made her even happier still because that meant that she had this in the bag all on her own. Her little personal triumph was interrupted, however, by Julianne's body being brought in, Doctor Stone coming over to look it over because without Lillian there the autopsy was in his hands.

"We'll have the time of death soon enough," he assured Gan. "Also, I should inform you that the Away Team never checked in...once we catch the saboteur we should start figuring out what to do about them. What I wouldn't do for more marines around here to help with Security..."


<Taggles: Gan, Marlo>

||Starbase 12
||Counseling Offices
||August 2, 2387
||1430


"That's him..." The counselor confirmed taking a breath. "Am I excused to go to my quarters?"

Tay'Li nodded as she stood there lost in thought, only vaguely hearing the doors open and close behind her. After a moment's deliberation, she turned to her team. The only way to get ahead of this was to split up, but remain in constant contact. Divide and conquer. She reached over, and after typing on the console for a moment, pulled up the base's layout, and saw an area flashing red--Someone had cut life support to Sickbay. they had about two hours of air left, but with the way it was filling up, that number might decrease quickly. She punched in a few commands, loving that her rank allowed her to fix things like this, restoring it. The section flashed green once, and then looked normal.

"Computer, locate Jason Cobalt." Tay'Li commanded.

"Lieutenant Commander Jason Cobalt is in the Intelligence offices." the computer replied cooly.

What in the name of Kahless was he doing there? That in itself was suspicious.

"Hopefully, it's him, and not just his badge. Greton, Sykes; he's your responsibility, he may not be behind anything, but he was the last person to see Murphy alive--bring him in. Kintes, Jacobs; I want you guys to go back to my office, and review every scrap of security footage from the offending crimes, and I want a report within the hour. I'm headed to Engineering, as that was where the code to cut off Sickbay's life support came from. Move it." Tay'Li barked.

"Aye, aye, ma'am." They said in unison.

The four men nodded, saluted and exited the premises before her. Being half-Klingon and raised on Qo'Nos, Tay'Li could take care of herself, and her squad knew it. She eyed the panel once more, before she left, and stopped. Walking back over it, she cleared it, and pulled up a personnel database, and scrolled down until she found the name she was looking for: Gabriel Sharpe. He was her next target, and so with that name in her head she made her way to Engineering, and began asking around, to be pointed at him, finally.

"Lieutenant Sharpe? I've got some questions for you." Tay'Li said as she approached. "Were you aware someone had cut life support to Sickbay from your domain?"


<tags Gabe>

||Starbase 12
||Sickbay
||August 2, 2387
||1440


Marlo sat up and stretched. Cecily had said it would take a few minutes to kick in, but once it did, Marlo felt great. She could probably run all over the station if she wanted to...but she didn't want to; she wanted to work. She didn't have long and she intended to use it to the fullest. Hopefully before her time was up, Cecily would have the cure or Lilly would be back--because Cecily could say whatever she wanted about Lilly, but the girl had some serious skill. She turned to Gan.

"Thanks for the company, Captain. If we ever get quarantined together again, make sure to bring a deck of cards or something." She winked.

She'd be in Engineering if anyone needed her--and she knew she didn't have to say anything, her present company knew that was where she spent the majority of her time. She'd slept way too much in the past 24 hours, and needed to be up and around, feeling a hydrospanner in her hand, and seeing wires and bulkheads, and panels in front of her. It was going to be nice to be out of the force field too, with room to wander and stretch her legs.


<tags Gan & Cecily>

||Starbase 12
||Sickbay->Counseling Offices
||August 2, 2387
||1440

Gan shook his head and came out of his rest slowly and nodded to Cecily, letting her give him the stimulant. After a few minutes or so, it kicked in and he started to feel more normal. "You know, I feel like I actually managed sleep. I could use something like this on a daily basis." He laughed, happy to be on his feet again for at least a little bit. But he'd probably pass out for a day and a half after the stuff wore off. It'd been a busy week. He nodded, heeding her warning. He didn't want to give anyone else the disease and make more work for the poor woman. She wasn't a doctor. He moved over to assist Doctor Stone for a moment. He looked over the body, sighing softly. This just kept getting worse, he needed to get ahead of the saboteur and stop them with every bit of power he had to bear. He shook his head, "Well let me know when you can doctor. I should see to the finale of this situation. I will address the away team on the way." He sighed and walked out of the doors with Marlo, she'd head to meet up with Gabe or go back to Engineering to help sort out the problems with the station. He pressed his commbadge to get in touch with his communications officer. "I've heard that we haven't had contact with the away team, Lieutenant. Can you ascertain the condition of the shuttle from here? Get back to me." He tapped the badge again, determined to meet up with Tay'Li.

With his chief Counselor dead, he assumed he could find the half Klingon there. She usually found herself in the thick of things, he just hoped he caught her before she got too far away from that deck. He could comm her if he needed to, but for the moment, he just wanted to walk. With his mind finally returned to a point where cognitive thought was possible again, he had a lot of considerations to make. With all of this loss of life...what was he supposed to do? He shook his head and turned the corner and stepped into the turbolift to get down to the Counseling Offices. As the doors opened, he walked down the hall and saw that there were a few security officers still around. If she wasn't here, they could at least tell him where she went. "Where did Commander Carter go?"

||Starbase 12
||Main Engineering
||August 2, 2387
||1450

Turning as he heard his name, Gabe gave the half Klingon a shake of his head. "No, Commander; I wasn't aware of that. Foral, Jacobs get up to Sickbay and take a look." He said, lifting the PADD in his hand and accessing the main log files.

"Yeah, I see what ya mean, which means either our new little friend hacked into the system and changed the location data on the command or...the bastard did it right under my nose."

He felt the weight of the combat knife he'd tucked under his jacket earlier and nodded slowly, whoever was targeting them had to be be stopped, there had already been too much death but after the deck 12 incident, he was more then happy, if given the chance to add to the death toll, at least the one death that was deserved.

"Okay Commander, what happens next?" He asked, his voice taking on a slightly deeper tone... The wolf had awoken.

Tay'Li understood his anger, but until she knew what or who she was dealing with, there wasn't really much she could do about it. She'd wanted to know if he had any clues as to who would have wanted to kill everyone in Sickbay--unless it was just one person and everyone else was collateral damage. Tay'Li crossed her arm over her chest, and thought for a moment. Maybe everything was connected. Marlo and Gan got sick, and then someone cut Life support from that area--they had to be the targets...well one of them. Counselor Murphy hadn't been so lucky, but as a counselor, she must've known too much.

The doors to Engineering opened, and Marlo bounced in...was she really the woman hacking up a lung Tay'Li had seen just 40 minutes prior?

"I've got my best working on it as we speak. We've got a suspect, and they're bringing him to me--the best you can do right now is protect your superior, Lieutenant Bakel...I'm not sure what's going on here, but I think she's in trouble, and so is Captain Sorren." Tay'Li explained, pointing over Gabe's shoulder.

"Ma'am, I've got something." A voice said.

"Go ahead, Kintes--I'm listening." Tay'Li pressed her comm badge once.

"This Jason Cobalt guy was at the scene of every accident, just before something happened, according to the security footage doing something on panels, even though he's a security officer--and not like you ma'am. Jacobs checked his file--no extensive tech skill at all...his wife knew her way around a hydrospanner though. He got sloppy though and didn't cover his tracks very well." He told her, his tone indicating he was still watching the vids.

"All the more reason to bring him in. I hope Greton and Sykes can apprehend him." She sighed. "Keep me informed, Carter out. Well, Sharpe, looks like you can help me after all."

She needed to find Gan, or at least surround him with her team--it wouldn't bode well for the station to lose it's newly appointed CO...

"Jason Cobalt?" Gabe said to himself quietly, calling up the man's file and wandering back through his memory. While he knew the names and faces of each other engineering and senior staff, he hadn't reviewed the other members of the crew. That was something he planned to change from now on, he was in the dark and that was something he hated.

With the face and name fresh in his mind he knew he hasn't seen the man in engineering today, of that he was glad, while Cobalt may have done his dirty little deed right under his nose, in his own engineering bay, at least he hadn't done it right in front of his eyes as well.

Cracking his knuckles he watched Marlo as she went around catching up on the reports she'd missed while in sickbay, he chuckled humorlessly and shook his head, the woman was as bad as he was, but he was glad she was back, for if nothing else there was less weight on his shoulders, which after the deck 12 incident already felt pretty damn heavy.

"I'll keep my eyes out from here on in, if there's anything else ya need, Ya know where i am Commander."

Tay'Li certainly worked fast, Marlo would give her that, but what was she doing in Engineering bothering Gabe? There didn't seem to be anything wrong with her area, but if the Half-Klingon was here, her research must've turned something up, and Marlo would like to know if something big was going down. After a moment's deliberation she set all the reports she'd collected in her office and made her way over to the pair of them. Three heads were better than two.

"We've got him." A voice came over Tay'Li's comm badge.

"Bring him to Engineering, Greton--I'm sure our Engineers have some questions for him and Send Sykes to tail our Captain would you? I've got a bad feeling about this. Feel free to subdue the suspect if he won't cooperate. " Tay'Li replied.

"Aye, Aye ma'am."

Marlo chuckled. "That's a bit extreme for someone you don't know if they even did anything wrong."

"I like to be careful."

Tay'Li shrugged as a lowly ensign wandered over to Marlo and handed her another report, hurrying away with one look at Tay'Li--she was a little intimidating. Marlo skimmed the PADD with her eyes, but stopped, zoomed in and ran over to a panel, motioning for Gabe to follow her. The Ensign had done a complete systems diagnostic and found a shutdown sequence embedded, in a mundane task log--maybe that was what the security officer was here for. She wrinkled up her nose, but it had given her an idea.

"Sharpe, did you happen to collect a task log from deck 12, section 5's console? I just may have a a definite suspect for Commander Carter over here."

"Of course." He said, pulling up the report on his own PADD, "I may be techincally a mass murderer, but i'm not a wet behind the ears cadet." He said in a failed attempt at humour. He rubbed his temples and groaned. "Sorry that came out wrong... not in the best frame of mind right now."

He handed Marlo his PADD and folded his arms acros his chest. "Wait, if this guy doesn't have much engineering skill how the hell did he manage to keep me outta the force field system on deck 12? i spent twenty minutes fighting, ya telling me i got beat in a battle of wits with some guy that didn't know what he was doin'? coz if that's true i'm resigning my commission."

The men in security had pointed Gan in hopefully the right direction, down to main engineering. He had to see this thing through. If he only had a couple of hours until he fell ill or passed out from exhaustion, he would use them the best that he could. He took the turbolift down to Engineering to try to find Tay'Li, or at least where she had been. That was where security had said she'd gone, but Gan was afraid he'd be chasing the woman halfway around the station before he found her. The doors to Engineering and he found her. "Hmm. For once in their career, security got something right on the first attempt." He winked at Tay'Li, chuckling softly under his breath. He turned to Gabe for a moment, "You did what you could Sharpe. Thank you for your help today." He kept the conversation brief, he didn't want to dwell on what happened but what was going to happen. "So where are we on the saboteur?"



JP By:

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||Starbase 12
||Main Engineering
||August 2, 2387
||1510


Marlo ran her eyes over the datapad, and made her way over to a wall console. If only Dr. Stone hadn't been kind enough to lock her out of the systems so she couldn't work, she could've done this ages ago. She pulled up a diagnostic of the tampered with systems, and compared them to the task log in front of her. All she needed was a personnel log and they'd be home free. She nodded slowly and turned around to face Tay'Li, Gabe and Gan.

"Every officer has their own partial code that shows up in the systems every time they input a major code like initiating the self destruct sequence, or decompressing a section. Even if it's cleared out, fragments remain--you just have to know where to look." Marlo explained. "I ran a scan, and the same fragments were found scattered across the station, where all the accidents happened. They belong to--"

The console beeped in acknowledgement, and Marlo glanced at it. Tay'Li's suspicions had been right on the ball--Jason Cobalt. She pointed and Tay'Li pressed her comm badge quickly.

"Greton, just take him to the Brig. He's our saboteur--I'll be there presently." She ordered.

||Starbase 12
||Brig
||August 2, 2387
||1545


Tay'Li forced a smile, and punched Jason in the face, hearing a crack. She didn't even care that's she'd broken the guy's nose, because she had half a mind to just ram her ridges into his head, and kill him out right--but Sykes had cautioned her against it, because they all wanted an explanation. It was a good thing she'd ordered everyone to clear out, but her team--they knew she was a little...unorthodox when interrogating prisoners, and none of them cared--as long as she could get the job done. They stood on the other side of the force field she'd had them replace when she stepped into the cell, arms behind their backs, at attention.

"I don't think you answered my question, worm." Her voice was dripping with unsuppressed venom.

"I don't think I remember quite what it was. One too many hits to the head from a half-Klingon bitch." Jason drawled. "Does Starfleet know of your interrogation tactics? I bet they wouldn't approve."

Tay'Li bared her teeth. "They don't have to approve if they don't know. My boys won't tell them...will you boys?"

Four heads shook in unison. "No, Ma'am."

She shrugged nonchalantly and leaned against the door frame, arms crossed over her chest. They could do this the easy way or the hard way...and she actually preferred the hard way; it had been too long since she'd knocked someone around. Oh the joys of being raised as a full Klingon. She could do this for hours, only she didn't think her subject could--he was only human after all. She did know what she wanted to do with him after...

"So, Why don't you tell me what I want to know? Why? Revenge? Anger? Chaos? I could do this all day, petaQ--it's really up to you if you want me to continue to bash your face in, or if you want me to leave you alone. Poor Jason--his wife and unborn child got caught in an accident--an engineering accident. Did it ever occur to you that the accident was her fault? That she messed up...or that all she wanted was to get away from you."

"It's because of people like you, I did what I did." He snapped.

A large grin spread across Tay'Li's face--this time it was genuine. Revenge. He'd answered her question without even meaning to--she'd obviously struck a nerve talking about his wife like that. If that was the result she was going to get from doing it, she'd use it to her advantage. If she could glean a motive, she could go get some blood worms, and resettle herself on the Starbase.

"Do tell." Tay'Li sneered.

"Everyone who got promoted because of that mistake--I suspect it was their fault she died. Everyone on Deck 12, Section five just kept acting like nothing happened they sickened me. I did the universe a favor." Jason continued.

Tay'Li nodded. "I understand."

Her tone was almost comforting, which made the Klingon blade planting itself between his eyes, completely unexpected. It was better to remove a danger like that then give it a chance to escape from incarceration and do everything all over again. Greton lowered the force field, as she stepped over his dead body, and made her way out of the cell. She nodded to them as she passed--they had a pact, if she killed someone while interrogating them, they cleaned it up, but if they got caught they could tell everyone who asked that it had been her.

"I'm going to go shower that maniac's blood off. Will you boys handle this for me? You know the drill...and I want my blade back shiny and clean."

"Aye, Aye ma'am." They nodded.

||Starbase 12
||Shuttlebay II > Sickbay
||August 2, 2387
||1555


Once they had gotten back to the Starbase, Lillian found herself quickly barking orders at the medical team that had assembled for their arrival, wanting to get Max and Taylor into Sickbay as soon as possible. On top of that, a nurse began to talk her ear off about how Marlo and Gan and a bunch of the other personnel on the station had been infected with a disease that Cecily had yet to cure and Lillian was in overdrive. She quickly made it to Sickbay, Taylor and Max being put on the bio beds, moving to go to Cecily, but Doctor Stone stopped her because she was limping and she looked a bit more paler than normal. Shaking his head at her when she opened up her mouth to speak, he slowly moved the skirt up her leg to see how purple and swollen it was.

"Lillian!" he chastised shaking his head. "You're not normally a shotty healer!"

Lillian looked at him and shrugged gently. "The civilians needed my limited supplies more than I did."

"What if it's fractured and you've been walking on it?" he asked her shaking his head. "Bio bed. Now."

"Ben, I have to--"

"--NOW."

Taking a deep breath, Lillian nodded and hopped up onto the bio bed, glancing over at Taylor and Max as the nurses scanned them, wishing that she could just help everyone at once. Part of her felt like everything was falling apart, but it felt nice to have Doctor Stone heal her leg like it should have been properly done before...she just hoped she hadn't screwed it up. He was smirking too, laughing a little bit, which made Lillian turn to look at him and smile a bit too--her outfit was distracting and yet she didn't have the time to change when lives were at stake. Even the nurses were looking at her funny like she was back from shore leave or something, but it was a long story she didn't really feel like getting into detail about.

"They tried to make me a concubine," Lillian explained sighing. "I'll change when I have time."

Doctor Stone nodded gently as he used the osteo-regenerater. "Alright, but you're distracting to men."

"Aren't I always though?" she teased playfully, both of them laughing a bit.

She let him work though, smiling when he was done, feeling much better and letting him take all the scans that he needed before she went to go and make sure that Taylor and Max were stable. When she was told that they were, she hurried to look over Cecily's work, Cecily not happy to see her, but she hadn't gotten a cure yet and Lillian was good at things like this--she always had been. Taking a deep breath, Lillian looked over the work for a little while, smiling at nodding like she had gotten something, jotting things down and handing Cecily the PADD with the information on it. Cecily's eyes widened and then narrowed...why hadn't she thought of that?

"Just synthesize it and then you can distribute it--I have some other patients to help as well, so two of us working on all of this is better than one," Lillian said smiling tenderly.

Cecily just nodded wordlessly, wanting to comment on the outfit but leaving it alone because Lillian looked exhausted and right now was not the time to pixk a fight--it was the time to get things done. So she watched as Lillian left the back part of Sickbay, working to synthesize the cure while Lillian looked over some charts and made sure Max was healed up before she started to work on a cure for Taylor. He was certainly sick and she wanted him healthy and cured, looking over the infection and over some of the readings of Thalos, nodding and getting something made up for him in a hypospray. Right now she just wanted everyone to be happy and awake and then she'd learn more about what happened on this station while she was gone...seemed like everyone was having a really rough day.

||Starbase 12
||Sickbay
||August 2, 2387
||1635


Lillian made her way over to Taylor, sitting down next to him and smiling gently. He'd been through a lot and even when he was sick and weak he had shown such heroism and strength and Lillian was glad that he was still alive and that he was going to be fine. Taylor wouldn't even have to stay here for very long once she got the bacteria out of his system and he would like that. After all, she knew he hated doctors so the less time he spent in this place the better. Remembering that and the hook in the nose, she pressed the hypospray to his neck and gave him the medicine that he needed to make him feel better--it wouldn't set in right away, but he'd feel fine by tomorrow.

"I'm glad you didn't die down there," Lillian said gently as she touched his forehead--he still had a fever, but it would break soon enough.

"You and me both..." he groaned as he stirred from his drug-induced slumber. Taylor felt as if his body had been through the wringer and the lack of smell that was signature to a sickbay did little to settle his nerves. Yet he felt safe, secure. The prison wasn't the worst situation he had ever encountered but after being out of the game for a while Taylor's memory was a bit foggy when it came to gory details.

"I guess I have you to thank for these...accommodations? I'm not sure about the food. And the bed will cost you a star on the review."

She smiled gently and stroked his face momentarily before pulling her hand back. "I figure this is as good a place as any to get you back up on your feet. I've got some medicine in your system and tomorrow you'll feel much better...right now it's just a wait until the fever breaks, but yeah...considering your lack of fondness for anything medical, I suppose a docked star makes sense."

Lillian was trying to stay nice and upbeat since the poor guy didn't really need to be hounded or anything of the sort right now, taking a deep breath and thinking over her words carefully. She already felt like she was on ice around him like she was going to offend him or something, and she felt as though the sooner she got him out of her Sickbay the better because he'd be happier the farther away from her that he was. Now that it was no longer a life and death situation, she knew that Taylor was less likely to be protective at all and while she still would be, it was best she not pretend this was anything more than just a doctor fixing up a fallen marine.

"I owe you some thanks for everything you did down there," Lillian said as she changed the subject a little bit. "I'm just glad that you'll be well enough to see another day. You were..." Incredible. Heroic. Charming. Perfect. "...really great down there. I don't know what we would have done without you helping us along, so thank you. You helped keep a lot of pressure off of my leg, though Doctor Stone is really annoyed I let it get as bad as I did."

"It's nothing personal. I'm just a bit of a nightmare for medical staff to deal with." said Taylor with a small smile. The bed was indeed comfortable but nothing else would compare to a proper bed in some quarters. "You know it's probably the drugs but you look really, really pretty right now. Then again compared to Orion guards anyone would look pretty." he teased, offering a smile as he relaxed his head into the pillow.

He certainly didn't feel like he was of any use on the planet. Sure the small skirmish in the colony had been a moment for his skills to be put to use but even then Taylor wasn't exactly agreeing with Lillian's statement. "It was nothing alright? I got myself locked up...drank dirty water and just sweat myself into a near coma. Personally I would have carried you to the top of the hill for rescue but...the situation didn't offer me that chance."

"It's the concubine outfit," Lillian said almost immediately, her face flushing because of the compliment. "Nothing quite screams 'pretty' like the lack thereof, of a dress. The moment I have more time, though, I think I'll change--besides the stares, I don't think the CO would be very happy with his CMO running around barely dressed...though I might keep it. I like that it's red."

Lillian smiled at him and nodded at his statement, resting her hand on his a moment to let him know that regardless of how he felt about the situation, he had helped her. She and Max weren't fighters and while they had certainly held their own and perhaps Lillian was a little proud of her ability to keep them all together, she felt as though she had needed him down there and she didn't know entirely why. Either way she gave his hand a squeeze and offered him up a smile.

"You carried me as far as you needed to...besides, I think a strong woman like myself had to pull some share of the weight, right?" she joked as she chewed on her lip. "Don't sell yourself short, Lieutenant Handsome," she teased, trying to lighten the mood a bit. "I'm sure that you'll have plenty of time to whip a team into shape and show us just how marines get things done. I mean look at me--I got thrown over someone's shoulder, forced into these clothes and then I was drugged to make me more compliant. If that fat bastard hadn't spent so much time with Max, I never would have been able to hold my own long enough to poison him. It was a give and take...at least we're alive."

The nickname was enough to make him smile. In fact Taylor was happy that his cough and cold sweats were nothing more than a bitter memory. He had taken care of Lillian and now it was her turn to return the favour. "I got to say, you really did suit the dress. Stockings and heels would have been a great addition." he commented.

"I'm glad that we're back safe...home. I suppose this is home now. I wish I had my old squad with us on that planet...we would have lucked out a lot more. These guys...they were some of the best people I've ever known. Helped me through the war. They didn't have the same good looks as you though."

"I think the idea was less to have to take off of me," Lillian joked, though she was blushing more now. "However, I'm a big fan of heels, especially on boots."

That was the second time that Taylor had commented about her being attractive and she had no idea what to really do about it because he'd gone from hating doctors to calling her pretty and...maybe it was the drugs. She wasn't supposed to take this personally and so straightened up and pat his chest gently, smiling down at him and opening up her mouth to speak because if she didn't, she'd just blush all over the place. By the time Taylor felt well, he'd be back to his old self and his old self didn't include being friends with doctors, so this was about as good as it was going to get with them, she was sure of it.

"You've met prettier women, I'm sure," she teased, scrunching up her nose playfully. "Still, I'm sure if you tell Gan, he'll get you a team. This base could use some more marines as far as I'm concerned...I doubt any of them are more handsome than you though. You're even attractive when you're sick and not many people can say that. Are you feeling alright? Congestion? Chills?"

"Gan is Fleet. Fleet don't like marines." Taylor pointed out. "Ritter is proof to that theory. Do you still think he wants me in the brig for pointing out that he was under the influence of drink during his command? I mean he technically can't. Any order given by an officer under the influence is null and void. I'm sure with your clearance you could access the internal sensor logs of the shuttle bay from when he walked in. The shuttle itself...might be a stretch."

"Not everyone in the fleet hates marines," Lillian said with a gentle shrug. "I mean I don't, and before the accident there were more marines here than you think there were. I grew used to having them around, but that's what I get for being here for three years, you know?"

She gave a soft chuckle before taking a deep breath. "You're not going to see the inside of the brig. After everything that happened, I'm sure that Max won't try to make that stick. You were part of us fighting our way out and regardless of whatever bad blood is between you, I also have quite a bit of say in the matter and I'm not saying that because I'm attracted to you--we wouldn't have survived without each other. It'll all be in my report, just...focus on getting better, alright? I just want you to be happy and healthy."

"You've mentioned this attraction a few times. Though not directly." stated Taylor with a smile. "Besides...it's not the first time I've seen the inside of a brig. You forget that before this I was once a young corporal or sergeant with a lot of spare time on his hands. I was part of the Betazed garrison after the war too. I know how...accommodating your people can be."

"Then you also know how hot and cold we can be...emotional...as a people I wouldn't call us the most likely to think things through--we leap before we look where we're leaping," she said with a shrug. "Catch us during the Phase and and we're very accommodating. In fact, some Betazoids have been known to take on additional lovers--even married ones. Not much you can do with those quadrupled sex drives when your husband is lacking...not that they complain about getting a break."

She laughed and looked at him. "In my experience, soldiers tend to have the best stamina--that and during the war, a bit of fun could be had without worrying about heartbreak or any of that. While we value love, we don't really view sex like some do--it's an expression, which of course can be love but I've never..." she paused a moment, "...really had time for love. What about you? I'm sure you've done more than experienced Betazoid hospitality..."

"Starfleet doesn't allow its people to lay the foundation for life building. It can offer many things but a family life isn't one of them." said the marine as he rubbed his forehead. "I suppose I've had a few romances but no one that could ever convince me to give up the uniform. Something about the service just...gives me comfort that they could never could. The ridged code of honour, the expectations of duty. These are things that I couldn't really function without. Romance or not."

He offered a smile to her as he folded his hands on his stomach. "I'm a company man, Doctor. Loyal to the Corps and to those that I serve with. Having clear goals and objectives is a much comforting notion than...the unknown."

It was in that moment that it really sunk in with Lillian that trying to find something here was a bad idea--she had always wanted to fall in love, get married and settle down someday. This man was all about duty to the uniform and flirting was one thing, but there was nothing here to suggest that he was open to the possibility of a different future or to suggest that she would be the one to open him up to it...so why bother to try? Of course that hurt her and she was sure that her face showed it, but the softness of this moment had been nice until he'd thrown that out there at her and now all she wanted to do was get as far away as possible before she started liking him anymore than she did.

"Sounds like a lonely life," Lillian said gently as she rose to stand. "Well, you'll be able to be loyal for much longer thanks to getting off of Thalos. The medicine should go into further affect in a few hours, but you don't have to stay here if you don't want to. Just don't over-exert yourself, alright?" She was shutting down...it was obvious and she knew it because of her abruptness, but she felt like this was how it was supposed to be to protect herself. "If you have any problems, let me know--I'm almost always here."


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||Starbase 12
||Sickbay
||August 2, 2387
||1655


Lillian wasn't quite sure how she was feeling about what was going on with her and Taylor, but moving to get away from him was just what she had to do. Trying to shake it off, she took a deep breath and moved to try and help to heal other patients, aware she was still in the outfit from the planet and deciding after a moment or two to change out of it. So, she went to her office to grab the spare uniform, changing into it and even brushing her oiled hair, cursing that it really did smell good, leaving it down and her duty jacket open. Right now she wanted to feel better in her own skin, and so she left her office just in time to see Marlo stumbling in.

"Well hey there, Carrots," Lillian said with a sad smile on her face.

Marlo was surprised she'd made it into Sickbay at all-- what with her fuzzy vision, dizziness, and the light-headed feeling was back in full force. Something told her she should've just stayed in quarantine instead of running straight to Engineering and work. Cecily said they'd probably feel worse when the temporary fix wore off, and she wasn't kidding. Marlo tripped and coughed as she fell.

"Either Cecily's temporary measure wore off or I'm dying." Marlo wheezed. "Fix me."

She felt clammy and like she was going to faint again, and she didn't like it.

In the last few minutes, it seemed like everything inside his head had gone straight to hell. He knew that the stimulant that Cecily had given him had worn off and he was not even all that close to Sickbay. He started to make his way, missing a few steps here and there, stumbling with all of his symptoms. He didn't even have a hypospray to stabilize himself for a few minutes so he could make it down there. He whistled to the first Starfleet personnel member he saw. "Hey...drag me into the turbolift? I need to get down to Sickbay, I'm pretty sure." He grumbled softly and stumbled a little bit. The man pulled him down the hallway and into the turbolift. They proceeded, down through the Sickbay doors and he managed to get himself onto a bio bed. "Well...that was exciting. I'm pretty sure Branton didn't tell me I'd feel like I would rather be affected by some sort of Andorian parasite. Or really anything under the sun.." He mumbled to himself.

After a moment or two he spotted Lillian with Marlo in a bed on the other side of the room. He chuckled and waved to his fellow downed Bajoran, going over the last few hours in his head, making sure he hadn't coughed on anyone or engaged in any sort of fluid exchange. He nodded, pretty sure he was safe. "Next time I go on an adventure in illness, Miss Crae, do remind me not to." He smiled and shut his eyes, hoping that at least he could get away from feeling utterly disgusting for a few moments.

Lillian smiled at them and got them the cure, going for Marlo first and then for Gan, placing the hyposprays to their necks and letting the drugs get released into their systems. She just wanted the two of them to be perfectly healthy now and it was up to her as the CMO to make sure that that was going to happen. Not only that, but not curing the CO and the CEO seemed like a big 'no-no' on her career path and she just wanted them to be fit and ready to go.

"I think you'll both be feeling better in no time," Lillian said happily with a smile on her face. "However, I want you both to take the rest of the day off and probably the morning as well..."

"So there's no chance this will recur? Is taking the day off mandatory?" Marlo asked. "By the way, Sickbay is boring. Paint the walls pink and create a fun corner for those confined to Sickbay, would you?"

She had so much to catch up on, what with all the explosions and restoring Deck 12 and checking in on Shelley. She wanted to make sure everyone and everything was going to recover, but first the cure needed to kick in, or she'd feel all kinds of useless all over again, and that wasn't going to fly for her. She laid back down against the bio bed pillows and stared up at her friend. She wasn't joking--the environment was less than stellar.

He felt better after Lillian injected him and smiled softly, wondering how long he would have to spend in Sickbay. He should at least spend a few hours in here so that he could recover fully before getting back to his quarters. He would do as his doctor advised and take the rest of the day off. But the morning, well he had reports to write and file, requisitions to send and people to talk to. He shook his head, "You know the worst part about these types of situations? The paperwork. After all the destruction and the chaos you spend six weeks filling out forms. Or at least that's what it feels like sometimes.." He chuckled softly.

He pondered Marlo's suggestions. Painting the walls pink would certainly be interesting, that was for sure. He didn't think however that it would go over to well with every soul on the station. They were very bland as they stood though. Maybe it was just him, but he felt that there could really be a few touch ups made to the Sickbay. He had thought so during his tenure, but mostly in the sense that he wished he could work less.

"I don't think that pink is the way to go," Lillian chuckled gently. "I don't know...I've grown fond of the look over the years, but then again I do more in here than my patients--I've never particularly been a patient myself. Well, not for long enough to start envisioning redecorating anyway."

Taking a deep breath she looked at them both. "Those alien spores shouldn't bother you anymore. As we speak they're being eradicated and antibodies are being created--you'll be immune should this happen again thanks to my cure and Lieutenant Branton's stimulant...I didn't expect the antibodies to come from her little concoction. Either way, you'll both be healthy enough for duty tomorrow but I do mean the rest of the day off and perhaps the morning. What your bodies went through was enough and they need to recover."

That being said she smiled at them. "We all do..."


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