[snip]

After a few minutes the girl had cleared the plate and cup she still seemed uncertain of who was around her or where she was and she clearly was ready to bite or scratch anyone who tried to get near her again but for the moment she had calmed down enough that NE Murphy spoke questioning to Cross, “..Uh ma’am? You uh wanna do her scan? She seems a little calmer to you then the rest of us..” he asked.

Cross nodded and started the scan, the doctor could not help but smile at the ingenuity of the team, as the child was now wearing one of the blue tunics which had been cut and reached down to her ankles .

Captain Glen stood watching, waiting for an explanation of why this child was here. He thought his instructions had been quite clear on any interaction with the native population.

Cross noted the food ‘Boo’ had just consumed had been tolerated well.

Cross had known Glen for years and as he stood there observing without speaking, she knew what was possibly going on in his mind ‘’Captain I cannot provide you with any knowledge as how this kid has been brought by the team ‘’ the female doctor now read the information the scan provided ‘’Your best bet is the Cmdr who was also down for any additional information ‘’ .

“I saw him just now.... off down the corridor in the opposite direction,” Glen replied. “He didn’t look well… and he was holding his hand.”

Hunter was nearby and though he knew what happened simple kept his distance ,the Captain would have to find out by speaking to Joe . After what had happened the last time the doctor spoke to Glen for actually answering the Captain’s questions only to be told to simple shut up. He felt he was not wanted by anyone or anywhere ,just sickbay or in the OR and that was how it was going to be.

“Doctor Hunter,” said Captain Glen, “Your long face and permanent scowl tell me that you work far too hard! Tell Cross to reduce the hours you work, and then give yourself some time to decompress after work. Plan some social activities to ensure you spend time with friends. Otherwise, you’ll have no time and energy left to take proper care of yourself. You’ll not get enough sleep or exercise, and you’ll start to eat poorly.”

With a careful neutral tone Hunter replied ‘’Captain there is no need to worry about me, I’m up to-par when it comes to my health ‘’ the doctor replied ‘’What is more worrying is the fact that the Cmdr has been found to be infected with a bacteria in his ear when down with the away team’’ .

‘’Since as of now its unknown to us about what kind of bacteria it is he’ll be quarantined, I shall take on the necessary and mandatory required examination, then take the sealed swabs to the Science dept marked as Bio -Hazard ‘’ .

“Have Thomas Nose https://www.star-fleet.com/core/character/1949/ look at it,” Glen told him, “He’s the best Cytotechnologist in Fleet 6!”

Hunter waited for the Captain to tell him to get lost ,so he could get on with his work as he saw Kate escorting Joe to a cubicle.

This was far worse then telling him to shoot himself in the head ‘’What! Him? ‘’the doctor asked ‘’Captain if I was to send him rest assured that he’ll infect not just his ear but he’s whole body ....anything to get him of work ‘’.

And at this point Hunter started to think about an escape pod which did seem like a plausible idea.

Glen didn’t think that he would ever understand Doctor Hunter. He seemed to dislike everyone, especially anyone in authority, and to dislike the Merrimack, and yet he did a particularly good job on the Merrimack and was liked by patients and female crewmembers.

“Okay! Okay!” replied Glen, “It was merely a suggestion. The new CSO then, Lieutenant Aphelion would do a fine job too. Just make sure that whoever it is that examines the swabs, that they are aware of the danger and the importance. I can’t remember the last time the Transporter bio-filter failed to detect an infectious micro-organism. By the way, what is that disgusting smell in Sickbay?”

The smell seemed to emanate from the native girl herself. Glen saw that she was filthy, and while they had addressed her medical needs and hunger, they had yet to do anything to clean her up.

Scans of the native girl showed she was indeed rife with bacterial infections, a native virus of some kind, and showed a lot of polluted organs, and malnourishment etc. All in all it was a sign of the native humanoids being so resilient to this level of problems that were likely reasons the Klingons had invaded and enslaved them for mining work. Such a race was able to work longer, harder, and such more then say an average human under such conditions before they would likely collapse or such. Of interest was that many of the pollutants from mining and such on the planet that caused low level radiation sickness had the side effect of creating a sort of low level life sign masking. Which was probably why the girl had failed to be picked up among the trash the away team had been in originally. This would also mean that until her body got cleaned up both outside from the dirt and grime, and cleansed of the infections and pollutants if she DID escape into the ship tracking her by scans would be tricky.

When Cross would come near for any physical sample taking the girl it seems had enough of the oddities going on and would again get more unruly, kicking, screaming like a banshee, punching and biting and trying to escape off the bed. The girl was really a spit ball firecracker of energy despite her sickly state, if this was what such a child or native could do in such a state that should have slowed an average human likely as a result more healthy natives would be even more fierce and such to engage with. Something to perhaps note for the coming days.

GM CockRoach

-Glen, CO