round 13 JP: Bale & Cain: Field Surgery

[Alexander Matthews]

((Abandoned Space Station))

::Isaac continued his dash across the landing bay, moving faster than he

ever had before in an attempt to reach a defensible position.::

Bale: =/\= Commander, incoming!! =/\=

Cain: =/\= I will have men ready to cover you Ensign. How many spiders

are out there? =/\=

Bale: =/\= Too [...]ed many! =/\=

Cain: =/\= Copy that Ensign. Keep the channel open. =/\=

Bale: =/\= ::through heavy but controlled breathing:: Aye, sir. =/\=

::As he closed the distance to the control room where his allies waited,

Bale started to see crates and other equipment stacked up in defensive

barricades. Major Fanel had kept his men busy, it seemed. Heightened as

his senses were by the torrent of adrenaline rushing through his veins,

Isaac easily spotted a tripwire that had been set between two of those

barricades. Whether through his telepathic senses or some visible sign

barely registered in his consciousness, Isaac's instincts kicked in and

he knew the enemy was right behind him. Without slowing his run, Isaac

went down slightly lower with his weight shifted onto his right leg and

kicked off the deck, shifting his weight back to the left as he did.

Time seemed to slow down as he fell into a deep state of concentration.

Isaac poured his telepathic strength into his sword as he rose, as he

had learned to do from his Tassa'Akai masters. He kicked off a

barricade with his left foot several feet off the floor, shifting his

weight again to the right and sending himself into a vertical spin

through the air. As his body rotated, Isaac lashed out with his

Khrysar'Akai and cut the two spiders behind him completely in half,

sending their slimy entrails spraying out to the side. Isaac continued

his spin and landed several feet past the tripwire, perfectly balanced

and still at a dead run. To anyone watching it would have appeared like

a deadly ballet, but Isaac didn't have time to reflect on

his performance just yet. Sensing another enemy closing on him, Bale

was about to perform another acrobatic feat when suddenly a phaser burst

streaked out towards him. He jerked his head to the side as the shot

passed by close enough to make the hairs on the back of his neck stand

on end. Whoever took that shot was either insane, or very good with a

phaser. oO Fanel. Oo Isaac decided he wouldn't mention his annoyance

at having to dodge phaser fire, considering the satisfying crunch of a

bug popping he'd just heard right behind his shoulder.::

::Despite having been in battle several times before, a couple of which

were quite recent, as Arden stood behind the barricade he felt a

different set of emotions within him. He found himself anxious more

than scared as he usually had in the past. Keeping his focus on Ensign

Bale, Arden watched as the man grew ever closer by the second. Once

Bale had closed within a couple of dozen meters from the barricade he

excuted some kind of zero-G move, Arden could only conclude that Bale

thought he had no other choice and that was good enough for him. As

Bale landed, Arden barely saw a pair of spiders fall dead behind him.

The next thing Arden realised was a single phaser blast shooting over

Bale's shoulder. Looking first to his right then to the left Arden saw

Major Fanel holding the offending weapon. The shot itself was absolutely

breathtaking to Arden who was clutching at the

borrowed marine hand phaser waiting, not entirely trusting his limited

marksmanship abilities. Sucking up the courage and focusing it seemed

that the Major's first shot was the signal the marines were waiting for

to commence the covering fire for Ensign Bale. Taking his time, Arden

too, took aim firing at any living spiders he could get at.::

::Isaac leaned forward and pushed himself to run even faster as covering

fire began to streak past him. He was almost through the door when he

felt something slam into him from behind with enough force to lift his

boots off the deck and send him sailing the rest of the way into the

control room. He crashed down hard to the deck and slid across the

floor inside. Forcing himself to his knees and trying to stand, Isaac

could feel the many legs of the creature wrapped around him. The

strength of these things was incredible! Able to gain his footing, but

unable to shake the beast free, Isaac turned his back toward the nearest

wall and tried to slam the spider into it. The tangled pair crashed

into the wall twice, then Isaac threw his head back and growled in pain

as he felt something knife into his lower back.::

Bale: Shoot it!!

::Rushing from the barricade, Arden went to help Bale who seemed to be

struggling. As he got closer inside the control room he realised that

was because a spider had latched on to him.::

Cain: Stop moving and I will.

::With Major Fanel busy commanding his marines at the barricade, Arden

was on his own to deal with this issue. Steadying his aim he fired the

phaser hitting the spider directly in the abdomen followed by an unusual

screech for a bug. Crudely holstering the phaser he quickly but

carefully heaved the dead body of the spider free of Bale. Once the

spider was free of Bale, Arden could clearly see a golf ball sized hole

in the back of the Ensign's body armour which was somehow in the process

of sealing itself. Adding the suits repair function to the list of

unanswered questions, Arden began helping Bale to a sitting position.::

::Isaac fell to his knees and then toppled over to one side. He lay on

the deck trying to control the jerking spasms shooting through his

body. The wound in his back felt like fire, and the waves of nausea

threatened to steal his consciousness. Then, to his ultimate horror,

Isaac felt something moving inside him just underneath the skin at his

side. His eyes went wide and he snapped his gaze toward Cain.::

Bale: By the gods, there's something inside me!

::Arden was sickened just by the thought that any sort of alien organism

had somehow slipped inside of Bale's space suit, let alone his body, but

Arden knew full well that it could happen. Star Fleet Academy made sure

of that. Almost within seconds a larger moving bulge in the back of

Bale's suite could be seen and it did appear to be moving, so for the

first time on this mission Arden was at odds at how to handle the

situation. Obviously the organism, whatever it was, had to be removed.

The real question was how though.::

Cain: ::Trying to speak calmly:: Judging by that bulge, you're right Ensign.

::Isaac reached down to his boot and pulled out one of his combat

knives. He extended it toward Cain with a violently twitching arm.::

Bale: ::through gritted teeth:: GET... IT... OUT!

::Taking the combat knife from Bale, Arden immediately ran through the

options in the most calm and rational way he could. The first step to

solving the problem was obviously to remove Bale's suit, so that meant

he would need life support in the control room or somewhere else. He

didn't really have to glance around the barely functioning control room

to know that it wasn't an option. His next thoughts were of the

Mercury, it had both experienced doctors and plenty of air to spare but

that seemed like an equally unacceptable choice. He couldn't allow

these spiders to get onto the Mercury but something had to be done now,

so activating his comm system he called the Ensign pilot still aboard

the Type-11 Shuttlecraft to complete a site to site transport.::

::When Arden and Bale emerged from the matter stream, he found that

while the shuttle hatch was closed the shuttle craft still had no

atmosphere. Leaving Bale's side he slapped the controls to re-establish

the atmosphere. While Arden waited for the ability to remove his own

helmet he stumbled around in the back of the shuttle in order to find

the emergency medical kit. Resting the kit on a chair besides Bale, he

hastily removed his helmet and gloves feeling relieved, and thought of

removing more of the cumbersome EVA gear, but thought better of it.

Instead he removed the helmet and upper body portions of Bale's suit.

Although that task in itself was more difficult then he hoped it to be,

he was mindful not to cause damage to the obviously expensive piece of

equipment. Next he ran a tricorder over Bale as his basic first aid

course dictated.::

Cain: There is something growing in you Ensign. I'm going to cut it out.

::Isaac grunted and growled, shooting a look at Cain that would cause

any sane man to take a step back under different circumstances. Pain

shot through him as he felt whatever was inside him moving along his

ribcage. Both men knew what had to be done.::

Bale: Less talk, more cutting! ::rolling onto his stomach so Cain could

get at the creature crawling across his back::

Cain: Oh I know. Me talking is more for my benefit then yours at this

point. I only have mild pain suppressors so this will hurt.

Bale: ::grunting again in pain:: Time's wastin', doc.

::As Cain moved over him, Isaac pulled out a second combat knife. The

tension in the shuttle was thick enough to slice up and serve for

breakfast, but Bale felt both Cain and Gerrard relax slightly when he

put the handle of that knife into his own mouth and bit down hard.::

Cain: Ensign Gerrard is it, please hold Bale very still while I attempt

to remove whatever is in him.

Gerrard: I'm not sure, Sir. Shouldn't we wait for a doctor?

Cain: I would love to, but it ain't going to happen in time so...

::As Arden pinched the man's flesh together looking for the best spot to

make an incision he pressed a hypospray to Bale giving him the mild pain

reliever. Running one more tricorder scan just to make sure he wasn't

in immediate danger of puncturing anything important, such as the spine

or a lung, he used the knife cutting into the Ensign's skin as if he

were dealing with a steak at dinner time. Only this time, blood began

to seep out of the incision. Wishing he could do more for the man and

hoping just as hard that Gerrard could restrain Bale adequately, he cut

further along and deeper until he had a five centimeter hole. Ignoring

Bale's pain responses, he pinched the still growing bulge together once

more, which rewarded Arden with a purplish egg sac poking out of the

wound. Knowing that it was too late to panic or for second guesses,

Arden reached in and forcibly pulled the sac out of Bale. As he did so,

it twisted in his hand but he maintained a firm grip just long enough to

extract it from Bale's body and throw it to the rear of the shuttle.

Putting the knife aside he picked up the tricorder which only confirmed

that he didn't cause any further damage. From that point it was simply

a matter of a couple slow runs over with the dermal regenerator. While

not perfect, it was certainly better then having Bale bleed to death.::

::Isaac didn't bother pointing out the futility when he felt the

hypospray press against his neck. With his naturally high metabolic

rate, and the amount of adrenaline rushing through him right now, his

body was going to burn through the pain killers faster than they could

take effect. He didn't care. He just wanted this thing out of him.

Then came the pain. As Commander Cain grabbed a handful of skin around

the lump on Bale's back and started cutting, the creature inside him

activated a natural defense mechanism that neither of them had

expected. Most likely sensing it's own peril, it must have released

some form of neurotoxin into its host. Every muscle in Isaac's body

strained to the point of seizing. He stiffened at first, and then began

to thrash as muscle groups worked against each other. Isaac hadn't felt

pain like this since his time under the 'care' of Cardassian scientists

during the Dominion War. All coherent thought fled from his mind. The

knife handle fell from his mouth, and to Ensign Gerrard's credit the man

had the good sense to fling it aside before Bale's head could be

skewered on it in his thrashing. Eyes clamped shut and unable to

exercise even the slightest control over his own vocal cords, Isaac

threw his head back with his face locked in a long, wordless scream.::

::With the egg sac removed, Arden noticed that the spasms Bale was

experiencing quickly faded which allowed him to get Bale into a sitting

position. Breathing a sigh of relief Arden refrained from collapsing

right there and then. All things considered he wasn't too concerned with

appearances at that moment, but still thought it best to try and stay

composed.::

::Isaac floated somewhere on the edge of consciousness. The pain in his

back was receding, but nerve endings throughout his body still felt like

he was swimming in acid. He wasn't thrashing anymore, that much he

could tell. Was Cain successful, or was his body failing? He had no

idea if the lack of pain in his back meant the Commander was able to get

that thing out, or if it was simply being masked by the toxins. Unable

to think clearly, unable to speak, and unable to care, Isaac simply

relaxed and let the darkness take him.::

Gerrard: Did you have to throw that thing across the shuttle Sir?

Cain: Probably not.. ::Suddenly speechless::

:: For the first time since the hasty beam-in Arden felt cautiously

aware of his surroundings. He trusted both the shuttle and his two

companions but he found the position of the shuttle eerie. Even the

tiniest sounds coming from the hull put him on edge as he remembered

that the docking bay was where the spiders had emerged from during the

attack on Bale. The shuttle seemed secure enough for the time being.

Taking a moments reprieve to sit on a chair opposite from Bale, just to

collect his thoughts even though there was really no time for such

luxuries. Taking a few deep breaths Arden suddenly paused as he moved to

get to his feet. His ears were greeted by the sounds of cracking and a

skittering noise filled the interior of the shuttlecraft. Judging by

Ensign Gerrard's panicked reaction Arden knew he hadn't imagined it but

he also saw the Ensign fell backwards as he moved toward the pilot's

chair in sheer terror. Turning around abruptly he saw the purple egg sac

had spilt open with a yellowish trail leading straight toward him.

Tracking the slime to its source Arden barely had time to draw his

phaser as a baby spider, similar to those outside the shuttle, was in

mid leap toward Arden's chest. It was simply too late to move out of its

path as it landed on his chest in a posture that seemed like one of

attack but seconds after the creature landed on him it just fell dead.

After seeing what the adult form of the spider had done to Bale, it took

Arden a moment to recover from his shock and another to even start

figuring out what had happened. This time he didn't even attempt to hide

his reaction from Gerrard while Bale still seemed to be sleeping. The

baby spider itself had fallen onto the fall at which point it seemed to

shriveled up. Although he could begin to explain the reaction he was

silently praying to whatever deities existed for the good fortune.::

Gerrard: Sir what happened to it?

Cain: I am not even going to pretend to be a biologist but if I had to

guess I would say that it couldn't handle our atmosphere.

Gerrard: What do you mean our atmosphere? There isn't anything exotic or

dangerous in it to most species.

Cain: The adult spiders outside are exhibiting the ability to survive in

vacuum space. If that's there native environment perhaps oxygen is as

lethal to them, as a lack of it, is to us.

Gerrard: But your not sure Sir.

Cain: No but it is a good place to start. Stay here with Bale while I

return to the away team. I will have a proper medical team here as soon

as possible.

Simmed by

Ensign Isaac Bale

Starfleet Intelligence

USS Mercury

NCC-99812

and

Lt. Commander Arden Cain

First Officer

USS Mercury

NCC-99812

[Hannibal Parker]

Absolutely AWESOME!

[T'Mihn]

O-O. Oh boy. Reminiscent of Alienstyled cheat bursters.

[Telice Shagan]

Oh wow I really felt Bale's pain there, horrible!!

[Jordan aka FltAdmlWolf]

Hi -- thank you for the submission. Please read the rules regarding subject titles. There's no need to include "JP" in there