656: Out of Control

by Azalea Adams and Lance Hartcort
80111.11
Following Uncertain

-=Sickbay, USS Alchemy=-


Azalea entered Sickbay to find Dr. Hartcort quietly mumbling to himself as he stood in front of an open storage cabinet, comparing the stocked supplies with what was displayed on the PADD he held.

“'Really will be great, quiet, a mini vacation,' he said. 'Get away for a bit', he said.” Lance sighed.

"Doctor, I think you'd better have a look at this." Adams announced grimly. She reached up and back in an attempt to rub some of the rapidly-increasing tension out of her neck before it made her existing headache any worse.

"What have we...oh. Not good."

"No. Not good." Azalea opened and closed three different drawers before she found an analgesic hypo. She finally managed to locate one, ramped up the dosage to maximum and administered it to herself. She closed her eyes and waited a moment for it to take effect before continuing.

"This outbreak started very soon after the last round of vaccinations were given to the children at the largest encampment in the Plains. That leads me to hypothesize that either the virus has mutated and the vaccine no longer works as intended, or the vaccine serum was compromised in some way. With the safeguards we have in place in this day and age, no child should be getting any disease from the vaccine intended to prevent it, let alone be capable of spreading it others."

Lance nodded. “Certainly. But odder things have happened.” He looked up from the information. “I’ve seen worse.” He tried to sound upbeat.

She focused on Lance, her deep brown eyes troubled and downcast beneath furrowed brows. "Have you read up on Vellat Fever? The potential complications I mean?"

"Death is one of them. That's a pretty bad complication."

"True. But even the lesser ones worry me. A lot."

Azalea scrolled through the list. "Seizures, potential permanent vision or hearing loss, especially in children under the age of five. Loss of cognitive abilities....pervasive developmental disorders..."

She bit the inside of her cheek to try to stop the rush of anxiety she felt from taking her over as she considered how many children under the age of five may reside at the orphanage at Altaan.

"But any resultant disabilities should be overcome or managed with intervention right? Cochlear implants, optic implants?" He asked, not yet familiar with the mechanisms of this particular virus.

"In the case of most post-viral disabilities, yes. Unfortunately, with Vellat Fever the damage is done to the connections between the nerves involved and the brain. As you are well aware that renders standard implants ineffective.

"The optic nerve and the vestibulocochlear nerves seem to be the most vulnerable to this infection." She groaned softly with frustration. "The damage to the connections themselves usually can't be repaired, either by standard neuroregeneration techniques. At least not yet. Research is, of course, ongoing. And as you also know, Dr. Hartcort, adding insult to injury is the fact that if the vestibulocochlear nerve is damaged it can cause a host of other problems. Vertigo, false sense of motion, loss of equilibrium, nystagmus, motion sickness..."

She threw her hands up into the air. "We shouldn't be facing something like this, not with the technology available to us. Unfortunately, Bajor has been low on the Federation's priority scale and that has come back to bite us."

Lance nodded, unable to argue the point she was making. “Well…” He handed the PADD back to her. “They got us now.” He still tried to improve the mood, his included. He felt a small twang of guilt at being so preoccupied by his own concerns.

"That they do. And...I know this was supposed to be a vacation of sorts for you and I'm sorry it hasn't turned out to be. But I want you to know, I consider myself very lucky to have you with us." She had done some reading up on Hartcort also, and knew that he would be immeasurably valuable to this mission.

"We'd better try to get a sample of that vaccine the moment we get into orbit," Azalea continued. "Because if it is flawed, we have to find out how and see if any other shipments of the serum may be dangerous as well. I'll keep working on this from the bridge, if you find anything interesting in your research, let me know."

"Will do. Hey, Doc, one more thing before you go."

"What's that?"

"If it turns out that the original virus has mutated so much that the vaccine is ineffective or worse, causing outbreaks of the new version, what do you think the chances are that it now poses a danger to humans?"

Azalea hated to admit that thought had already crossed her mind as well.

"Let's hope it hasn't, Doctor Hartcort."

--------------------------
Dr. Azalia Adams
Currently Commanding the USS Alchemy
en route to Bajor

and

Commander Lance Hartcort
Guest Starring CMO of the
USS Revolution