Commander Nalor ran her fingers through her hair as she let out a deep sigh. She had called all her staff together but she had no idea what she was going to say to them, she just hoped the Memorial would arrive in time to calm the situation, until they did she felt very exposed.

As her team began to filter in she gestured to them to take a seat. Taking a moment to compose her thoughts she slowly rose to her feet with a solemn expression. “I’m not going to lie to you all, the situation is dire…” she started as she looked around the room and noticed there was a face missing. “Wait, where is Dr Chen?” She asked with a puzzled look. Her message had been quite clear that all senior staff should be in attendance.

Dr Arden glanced round the room noting the Chief Medical Officer’s absence as well. “He must be tied up with Ensign Cade?” He offered. “She is still not showing any sign of improvement.” He added solemnly. Nalor nodded as she tapped her comm badge. =^= Commander Nalor to Dr Chen, are you joining us for the briefing doctor? =^=

Nalor waited for a moment but received no response.
=^= Dr Chen, please respond, =^= she added a little more forcefully but still received no answer. Letting out another sigh, she turned to her second in command. “Dr T’Vor, please go and check on the doctor and remind him he should have his communicator on him at all times,” she ordered with an air of annoyance. Dr Chen was an exemplary physician but he was a little lax in federation procedure. “Yes Commander,” T’Vor nodded and headed for sickbay.

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Dr T’Vor quickly made his way to sickbay and strode through the door. He was immediately struck by the distinct lack of lighting in sickbay which seemed odd. “Computer, lights,” he ordered but the room remained shrouded in darkness.

=^= T’Vor to Commander Nalor, there appears to be a power outage in sickbay ma’am, activating emergency lighting now, =^= he added as he felt his way to the panel on the wall. His Vulcan fingers danced across the panel with his trademark efficiency and the room slowly illuminated.

=^= Report Dr T’Vor? =^= the voice of an increasingly impatient Nalor came over the comm line. T’Vor quickly glanced around the room and was surprised to see Ensgin Cade still lying motionless on the biobed. Grabbing a medical tricorder, he quickly scanned the young ensign and slowly tapped his comm badge. =^= T’Vor here Commander…Dr Chen is not in sickbay ma’am, in fact, no medical personnel are present. And I am sorry to report Commander…Ensign Cade is deceased…=^=

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T’Vor’s words hung in silence in the conference room as the research team stared in disbelief at their Commander. Nalor looked back at them with the same look of bewilderment and confusion as to why on Earth the medical team would have left a vulnerable patient alone. After a moment of stillness Nalor cleared her throat and took a deep breath. “Dr Arden, Lt Patel, I know this is difficult news to hear but it is imperative that we talk to Dr Chen and find out what the hell is going on and at the moment I don’t know who we can trust. Get down to sickbay and find out where the medical staff has disappeared to. The USS Memorial is en route to assist with our Cardassian problem but I am deeply troubled by this turn of events…I think we have to entertain the possibility that someone is working against us…” she added slowly. Although she knew her team very well and couldn’t imagine one of them being involved, there were a small contingent of security, engineering and medical personnel on the station that she wasn’t as familiar with. There were just too many anomalies to ignore as coincidence. “The rest of you are dismissed, and please, watch your backs,” she added as her team began to filter out. Once they had left, she tapped her comm badge.

=^= Commander Nalor to USS Memorial, please can you give me an ETA on your arrival? Our situation is becoming desperate. =^=

Mother Hen (GM)