Lessons on Deck 16, Part III

Posted on Thu Apr 1st, 2010 @ 4:33am by Vice Admiral Iluvar & Commander Michael Evans M.D.

Mission: Episode 1.2 - "A House Divided"
Location: Deck 16, USS Pandora
Timeline: MD07, 1028

ON: [[Deck 16, USS Pandora, Day 07, 1028]]

"We still need to find Bailey and Peterson," Jesse said, knowing that now was not the time to dwell on those who were already dead. As cold and detached as it seemed, emergency procedure was very clear on leaving those who were already dead for those who had a possibility of surviving. "You said they were in the tractor control room," he asked of the man they had found in the head.

The man nodded. "Last I saw them," he said.

When they arrived in the room, the first thing that struck them was the wall, or rather the absence of one where a large console had been. It had apparently overloaded; shards of the outer panneling layer were everywhere, as well as bits of debris that looked strangely like rocks. Plasma flickered occasionally through the burned-out panel, but did not appear to be an immediate threat. Two figures lay on the floor amidst the flotsam.

"Eckles, see to that one," Areli pointed to the male victim as she moved towards the female. She opened her kit, scanned quickly, and began a series of treatments.

Jesse immediately moved toward the individual Areli had pointed out. As he knelt down next to the man, he took visual stock of the injuries. Though he was no trained physician, he could tell that simple first aid wasn't going to be enough for what the man required. The cadet flipped open his tricorder and began to run it above the man's chest, taking a basic reading for vital signs.

A soft moan escaped the burned lips of the man as he tried to shift his position. Jesse glanced toward the man's face to see that, despite his injuries, the man was trying to rise into a sitting position. "Take it easy," Jesse said in a somewhat commanding tone, "You have severe burns."

"Bailey," the man rasped, trying to look around. Glancing over his shoulder toward where Areli was working, he frowned and turned back toward the man.

"Please...don't move," Jesse said, continuing his scans. The man complied, though Jesse could tell that he wasn't happy about it. He turned his focus back to the tricorder in his hand as he completed the second round of scans. Moving this man was something that Jesse did not want to do unless he had to, for fear that the trauma might upset the delicate balance that the patient was maintaining at the moment. However, without communications, there was no way to call for an emergency beam-out.

"I've got this one stabilized," Areli said. "How are you doing there?"

Looking up from his tricorder, Jesse turned toward Areli and replied, "I'd say he's stable for now, but we need to get him to sickbay. He's got severe burns and I think there may be some internal damage as well."

Areli ran a very quick scan on the injured crewman to see for herself. "Good..." she said, "good assessment." She moved her kit next to the man. "I'll start working on him," she said, beginning treatment. "What's your plan for getting us out of here?" She injected a drug into the injured man and he relaxed a little.

Closing the tricorder, Jesse rose to his feet and approached an undamaged workstation. It took a little bit of coaxing, but he was soon able to access the system. He was looking to see if he could determine the extent of the damage, seeing as he had not been able to reach anyone on his communicator earlier.

The display told him that damage seemed to have been confined to this deck, but that it had been isolated from the rest of the ship. Access hatches were sealed, computer and power systems were in protective isolation mode, the turbolift would not run to this deck, environmental systems were on isolated secondary backup. All systems and access points were still capable of manual override, however, and the holoemitters were still online.

"The explosion must have done more damage than we thought," Jesse remarked to no one in particular, "This entire section has been locked down and isolated from the rest of the ship. No internal access and no communications."

"Probably default protective measures that kicked in, besides the damage sustained," Graf said. "Looks like manual access to egress options are still online," he noted, looking over Eckles' shoulder. "How would you like to proceed?"

"Is it safe to move them," Jesse asked Areli, trying to narrow down what their options might be. If they couldn't move the injured and they couldn't call for help, they might need to send someone to bring back assistance.

"This one would need more equipment than we have here or a transporter to move him safely," Areli said. "She probably could, though," Areli nodded at the other unconscious crewmember.

Frowning, Jesse surveyed the individuals in the room. If they weren't going to be able to get the injured out, then they were going to need to get the aid to come to them. The only way to do that would be to send someone out to get the message through manually. Given Areli's medical training, Jesse wasn't all that comfortable sending her away. That left Graf and the other technician. In his mind, Jesse figured that sending two people was better than sending one, just in case something happened.

Jesse realized that the others were all waiting on him to make a decision, making him feel like he was on the spot. Clearing his throat, the cadet made a decision. "Areli and I will stay here to keep an eye on the injured," Jesse said, "Graf and..." He paused, realizing that he had neglected to ask the technician for his name.

"Er... Johnson," the man from the latrine supplied.

"Right," the cadet acknowledged, "Graf and Johnson will see if they can't find a way to get out of the isolated section and alert someone to our situation down here." He looked at each individual in turn to make sure they understood his plan and what he was asking of them.

The two men nodded and headed back towards the torpedo room. Areli gave Jesse a small smile and turned back to her patient. Suddenly, the deck lighting returned to normal, the two injured crewmen disappeared, the wall seemed to shift and repair itself, the debris vanished. Areli stood, glancing around the now-ordered environs with a satisfied smirk on her face, then looked at Jesse. "Not bad, Cadet," she said.

Despite the confirming revelation that this had all been some form of test or lesson, Jesse could still feel the anxiety, the tenseness, and the nervousness from the entire situation. It had all seemed very real at the time, which is, no doubt, what had been intended.

Lt. Commander Evans strode into the room. "Well? How do you think it went," he asked. But seeing the look on Jesse's face, he said as an aside, "The holoemitters and some rather skilled technicians from Lieutenant Bish's staff were able to simulate the emergency fairly easily with a combination of holograms and props. I was monitoring the simulation from a few decks up." He walked over and stood beside Areli who was still wearing a half-smile. "So," he said, "how do you think you did?" He seemed reasonably pleased.

"I..." Jesse looked around at the clear deck and sighed, "That was..." He paused again, trying to get his frustration in check before speaking. So many thoughts were swirling in his head that it was hard to focus on exactly what he wanted to say.

"Nervewracking?" Areli supplied helpfully.

"Annoying?" Evans chimed in.

"Irritating?" Areli bantered.

"Unexpected?" "Unfair?" "Frustrating?" "Exciting?" They shot the terms back and forth like a game of verbal ping pong. "Chaotic?" "Revealing?" "Worthless?"

"Something to think about?" Evans finished.

Jesse opened his mouth to shoot back a reply, but paused at the doctor's last statement. Closing his mouth, the cadet could think of no quick-witted reply to that question. The scenario had certainly given him something to think about and, whether he wanted to admit it or not, it had not been easy.

"Take the rest of the day off, Cadet," Evans said a little more quietly. "As you're going over this morning's exercise, think about this: Pips on your collar give you authority, but not the ability to command well; and just because you don't wear red or rank highly, or even rank at all, it doesn't mean that you can't lead well." He paused a moment to make sure the words had registered. "Dismissed," he ordered.

"And don't forget your response kit," Evans smiled.

Still a little bewildered, Jesse moved to retrieve his response kit from the other room. As he made his way down the corridor toward the lift access, his mind continued to go over the doctor's last words about authority and ability, command and lead. Doctor Evans had been right; the scenario had certainly given him a lot to think about.

OFF

A JP by:

Lieutenant Commander Michael Evans
Chief Medical Officer/Second Officer
USS Pandora

Areli (NPC)
Emergency Medical Technician
USS Pandora
Played by: LtCmdr Evans

Graf (NPC)
Environmental Systems Technician
USS Pandora
Played by: LtCmdr Evans

And

Cadet Jesse Eckles (NPC)
Command Cadet
USS Pandora
Played by: RAdm Iluvar