Longfellow checked his chrono. 1000 hours.  Beside him stood Lieutenant JG Cynndle Oin’sun.  They were finishing the sealing of the biohazard suits and having the medical team do a triple check from top to bottom.

Cynndle stood still as a medical tech systematically checked each of the joints and seals of the biohazard suit for what seemed like the millionth time to make sure everything was in order. He closed his eyes and focused inwardly to calm himself. He had no issue with being in the biohazard suits or spacesuits which some people found claustrophobic but beaming over to a ship with a high infectious and virulent pathogen on board would give most people pause.

The medical tech popped up in from of his face display and give him a double thumbs up, “All good to go Lieutenant; all seals are reading in the green and your air supply is fully checked out; you have 8 hours.” came the crewman’s voice over the small speakers in the helm.

“Thank crewman. Appreciate the assistance with this.” Cynndle said with a quick nod as the crewman left the preparation area. Turning around Cynndle could see the rest of the medical team getting suited up. They would beam over after the initial assessment by Longfellow and Cynndle. “You ready for this Doctor?”

Longfellow wondered about the answer to that question.  Was he ready?  Was he ready to deal with the impossible?  Or the unstoppable?  “I don’t think anyone is truly ready to do this work…you just have to find a way through it.

Picking up the box with the scanning equipment and sampling tools Cynndle stepped into the decontamination room and looked past it into the airlock and the USS Lorenza that was clearly visible through the window and muttered under his breath.

“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;Or close the wall up with our English dead.In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man As modest stillness and humility:

But when the blast of war blows in our ears, Then imitate the action of the tiger. …”

Longfellow waited for the Lieutenant to process through the decon room.  It took a moment, but then it was his turn.  He focused his mind on the matters at hand.  They needed to find out the status of the infected.  They needed to find out the extent of the infection.  And they needed to find a way to stop it.  It was simple but complex at the same time.  The all-clear tone sounded in his ears as he stepped forward.  The decontamination room door closed behind them as the airlock cycled through its opening process.  Longfellow spoke to Cynndle through the suit headsets, “Lieutenant – be ready to see some things that are going to upset you.  Your emotional reaction to it isn’t wrong…but what you do with it…that’s going to make the difference as we work through the ship.”

Cynndle looked over at Longfellow and nodded, “I understand. How I react and what I project will be critical to the crew aboard.” He said before pausing and continued, “I will admit I am not looking forward to what I expect to see. Though I have tried to familiarize myself with the condition and its stages to not be caught unaware ”

Henry waited until the airlock had shuddered open and stepped forward, leading the lieutenant.  The medical team was in the decontamination room and would spread across the ship shortly.  Longfellow had one place to go.  Sickbay.  They used a turbo-lift and a corridor to get there, but they walked in and stopped.

Cynndle followed him into Sickbay, his plan was to drop off the large medical kit he had slung over his shoulders, but drew up short beside Longfellow and stared for a moment. Sickbay was packed with officers and crew occupying all the beds as well as temporary cots that had been set up leaving only narrow walkways between them. “I,…I didn’t expect it to have progressed so much…” he muttered under his breath but the microphone in the suit picked it up clearly so Longfellow could hear on their private channel. 

Taking a deep breath he pulls out his tricorder and began to move towards the central console. Stopping to scan individuals he passed he reassured those who were still awake and aware. “It’s ok, your close to Bravo, medical teams are coming on board. We will do everything we can..” again and again he repeated similar reassurance before he reached the console.

Stepping up to the console removed the medical kit from his shoulder and set it on the table beside it. Opening the console he tried to pull up information on the crew’s whereabouts and the detailed logs but was unable to access them from there.

Longfellow sighed as he pulled out his tricorder, “They’re barely alive, most of them.”  He shifted down the way until he found the bed he was looking for and shook his head as he moved to the side of his wife, Thea Longfellow.  “Thea…can you hear me?”  He quickly scanned her and loaded up a hypospray.  He did the math in his head as he slipped the various containers into the unit. “This is going to hurt for a second or two…,” he put the hypospray against her pale neck and she groaned in pain as the drugs took effect.  She clenched her teeth and fists as the pain roiled her body…and then settled.  She opened her eyes and smiled weakly, “Dr. Henry Longfellow, I presume?”

He stroked her cheek with his glove, “I’m here my dear.”  

She coughed, hard, for a moment but regained control, “It’s accelerated since we last talked.  It’s taking out our older population sooner than we expected.  You need to figure out a way to save the young ones, Henry.”

He shook his head, “We’re going to save as many as we can, Thea.  I’ll make sure of it.”

It was her turn to shake her head, “You can’t…not this time.”  She pushed herself up on the bed, wincing from the pain, “I know you…and I know what you’re thinking…but dear husband…you have to save the ones you can in the time you have left.”  She fell back into the bed, “The PADD on the table has everything we’ve been working on in the time it took us to get here.”

“I cannot get through to the systems I need here, not sure why…” he said as he turned back to look for Longfellow before stopping when he saw him only two beds over beside a woman who Cynndle could only assume was his wife as she lay back down and he took hold of a PADD. Stepping up to Longfellow he put his hand on his shoulder. “Henry. Are you ok?”

Longfellow sighed quietly, “Ok is a relative term, Lieutenant.  It appears we have our work cut out for us.  I’ll work on triaging what I can here.”

“Ok, I have dropped the supply kit on the table if you need it,” Cynndle said with a wave of his hand in that direction. “I need to get to the bridge and maybe engineering to see if I can get a clear reading on everyone in the ship as well as the logs. Need to figure out how this got on the ship.” He smiled at Longfellow and began to turn as the next medical team rounded the corridor into Sickbay and just as Cynndle and Longfellow had, stopped and stared for a moment before getting to work. “Message me if you need anything Doc.”

Longfellow gave the man a wave, “Same here, Lieutenant.”  With that, Cynddle was on his way.  Henry returned his attention to his wife as the medical team spread out in the room.  “We’re going to save you, Thea.”