Broken Dreams

If there ever was a need for unity, now would be the time. it had been over 48 hours since the discharge disruption in Engineering had caused a cascade effect and effectively left the Churchill adrift for 2 days. By all accounts Engineering had been sabotaged with some sort of Warp bubble destabilisation. thankfully the New class of ships had several backup systems and primary life functions had been unaffected.

After minor repairs had been made, they had continued onwards to Starbase 7. sadly the Milan and her crew had been ahead of them by a 1 day and the distress signal, Arnhem had guessed, not reached them? but speculation was no help. He would find out everything he needed to know and then act accordingly. perhaps even now, a traitor remained onboard. Security would run its investigation and those responsible would be held accountable. Thankfully there had been not fatalities, 1 critical and 7 minor injuries. currently recovering in Sickbay.

the communications beeped, Arnhem looked up from his thoughts.

"Captain we are within long range sensors of Starbase 7. I can see that the SS Milan is still docked"
"I'm on my way"

James stood up from behind his desk and moved with purpose once again; This mission was supposed to have been simple, an escort and resupply, and now it had turned into a crippling attack, leaving an inexperienced crew with trauma they should not have had. The doors slid open and he took to the chair with ease. his eyes scanning the bridge.

"What's our arrival time?"

"2 hours Sir"

"Very well, keep the ship at yellow alert, I don't want any surprises. Put me through the stations commander"

"Aye Sir"

the Con officers young hands glided across the console and a few moments later the view screen flickered and Lt Commander Hansom appeared.

"Hello Churchill, we expected to hear from you a few days ago, I got a little worried when the Milan showed up on her own, But her Captain has said nothing?"

"Indeed Hansom, I want that crew and ship impounded until we arrive, I want to speak to her Captain. We ran into a little trouble so we will need a repair crew waiting"

"I see, I see. I hope everyone is well?"

"If they're not, there will be hell to play Commander, I can assure you of that. I will see you soon." He smiled and the screen returned to a star streaked sky. James pushed back into his chair and felt the cushion against his lower back. Perhaps a heated seat would be good. Why wasn't that a thing.

Dr. Koshka sat by her desk, a low-lighted area that provided sufficient brightness to view several jars of chemical compounds sitting on a desktop.  The doctor was mixing the ingredients into an ointment.  The injuries from the Engineering incident a few days earlier had been released for duty with minor conditions. However, Petty Officer Gorjyll remained in his steri-field chamber with major flash burns to the face.  She wasn't thrilled with the prognosis that while the young crewman would survive, he would probably suffer permanent damage, from the limited space, the ringing sound of glass stirring sticks making contact with the glass mixing tray, and finally the doctor's voice breaking the silence

"Doctors log, stardate 80556.16, Petty Officer Gorjyll will survive the recent engineering incident on the Churchill.  The young crewman suffered flash burns to the face which will in my calculations permanently impact him.  Efrosians are highly susceptible to heat injuries which translates to suffering greater injuries to mundane sparks and minor bursts from crossed wires.  This species has the ability to view their surroundings in a greater light spectrum. This vision in coordination with their highly sensitive senses of smell and taste allows them to identify threats from ten times the distance of Terrans.  The injuries suffered will destroy these visual and olfactory senses permanently.  I researched a compound familiar to the Denobulan Medical Institute which helps to heal advanced Neurological injuries, I was unable to obtain the exact ingredients and opted for compounds that obtain similar functions.  I will attempt this procedure first, but will seek guidance from the Denobulan Assembly once we dock into station 7. end journal"

Koshka leaned over her creation, applying pressure over her eyes as she attempted to refocus her vision.  She yawned as she plotted the code to submit this report to the Captain of the ship.  The doctor stood up and called out 'Nurse Bessler' a muffled noise from the far end of the medical bay "Can you please clean this up and apply 2 milli-grams of this ointment on Petty Officer Gorjyll's wounds? It is time for me to finally rest after three days of research".   A human ensign enters the Doctor's office as Koshka exits, [b]"I'll be back in six hours".