The final part of "A Gift of Fire," detailing the events of VOY "Message in a Bottle." Chapters 1 and 2 can be found at http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4333656/1/A_Gift_of_Fire.
Feedback welcome!
STARBASE 400, STARDATE 51462
“Admiral, we picked up a distress signal.”
David Sorenson turned. He’d been reviewing the manifests of the half-dozen starships visiting the starbase when Groya told him to come to the command post immediately. He rushed there as fast as he could. “From who, Groya?”
“The signal came from a Class VI probe. As far as we can tell we’re the only Starfleet outpost to receive it. It’s from the Prometheus, sir.”
Sorenson froze. No, he thought. It can’t be from them. “Play it.”
Groya tapped a few buttons on his control panel. The recorded message began playing.
“Prometheus attacked. Send help immediately.”
“Is that it?” Sorenson asked.
“I’m afraid so, Admiral.”
Sorenson gritted his teeth and turned to face the rest of the command post. Most of the officers in the room were listening in, eager to learn what had happened to the ship. They could see the admiral was visibly upset. Sorenson recognized the voice on the call as that of Lieutenant Neave, whom he had met just a week earlier and one of the few people trained to operate the Prometheus. But Sorenson was baffled why they would send such a succinct distress message. And from a probe, too, rather than over subspace. It was almost as if…
“They did send us their coordinates, too, sir,” Groya said, interrupting the admiral’s train of thought.
“Where are they?” Sorenson leaned over Groya’s shoulder as the Bolian punched up the Prometheus’ location.
“That’s at the outer edges of the Argolis Cluster, sir.”
“Good God. The Jem’Hadar must’ve ambushed them as they entered the Cluster. That whole sector’s a hazard for sensors and warp travel; the Prometheus probably didn’t even detect them.”
“Sir, we don’t know who attacked them.”
“Well, who else would it be?” Sorenson walked over to a terminal on the other side of the room. The ensign manning it kindly stepped aside, and Sorenson began typing furiously. His mind was thinking only of the USS Prometheus, the ship he had helped design, and what had happened to it. After a few seconds, Sorenson brought up on the screen a map of the Argolis Cluster and input the coordinates relayed in the distress call. A blip appeared representing the Prometheus, and other blips popped up indicating nearby starships.
“According to our logs, the nearest vessel is the USS Bonchune. It’s currently on reconnaissance duty in the sector. Commander Groya, give them orders to track and intercept the Prometheus.”
“Yes sir.”
Sorenson turned to go to his office, then stopped. “Tell the Bonchune that if anything’s amiss, that if they hail the ship and no one responds, then they are to fire upon the ship and disable it, and wait for further assistance.”
“Sir?”
“The Jem’Hadar have been known to capture starships. Board ‘em and take out the crew. By God, I’m not going to have the Jem’Hadar in possession of our most advanced ship.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And send a subspace message to Tileyo. Tell them to send some ships to follow the Bonchune. I want as many vessels in hot pursuit of this dreadnought as we can muster. If the Jem’Hadar have learned how to operate the Multi-Vector Assault Mode, we’re in for a tough fight.”
“Yes, sir.” Groya got up from his post and went to Communications to relay the message. Sorenson turned to his office. The Prometheus? Attacked? Or worse…captured? This merited a drink, and it wasn’t going to have synthehol.
USS BONCHUNE, NEAR ARGOLIS CLUSTER
Captain Alexis Hurt, 51, let go of the gymnastics bar as soon as she was hailed. She always worked out in the morning before reviewing the Bonchune’s latest sensor logs; it helped her relax before the long day of tedium ahead. She was remarkably fit, especially for her age, a factor which she believed had impressed her superiors and gotten her command of the Bonchune—though she’d wished for a little more action. Since taking command two years previously, she’d done nothing but make sensor sweeps of areas with suspected enemy activity, whether it was Klingon, Cardassian, or Dominion. No action for months.
Hurt tapped a communications screen mounted on the gym wall. Maybe this was the call she was waiting for.
“Priority message from Starbase 400,” Lieutenant Reynolds relayed over the viewscreen.
“Put it through.”
The screen changed from Reynolds to reveal Groya, Admiral Sorenson’s personal assistant.
“Captain Hurt,” Groya said.
“Commander Groya.” They were both familiar with each other, the Bonchune having undergone a retrofit at Starbase 400 some weeks earlier.
“What I am about to tell you, Captain, is highly classified. We have reason to believe the USS Prometheus, one of our most advanced starships, was attacked somewhere near the Argolis Cluster approximately one day ago.”
“The Dominion?”
“We don’t know, but we’re assuming so. Admiral Sorenson has ordered the Bonchune to find the starship and ascertain what exactly has happened to it.”
“Has their been any contact with the Prometheus?”
“Only a distress call a few hours old.”
Hurt said nothing for a moment. This would finally be a chance for action, to actually be a part of this war. She just wished it was under different circumstances.
“How can we find it?”
“We’re sending you their last known coordinates. Our observation posts have lost track of the vessel, but we believe if you modify the range and frequencies of your long-range sensor scans, you can detect its warp trail and locate it. We don’t know if it’s been captured, crippled or destroyed.” Groya’s face changed from neutral to grave.
“We’ll do our best, Commander.”
“Oh, one more thing, Captain. The use of deadly force is authorized. If you must fire on it to disable it, so be it. And if you have no choice but to destroy the ship, then you must do so. The ship must not be allowed to fall into enemy hands—and you must be wary yourself. A Nebula-class ship is no match for this monster.”
“Thank you, Commander.”
The communication ended. Hurt could say or do nothing for a moment. One minute she was excited about a chance to prove herself as a captain, the next minute that feeling had all but evaporated. She had been told to fire on a Starfleet ship if threatened—indeed, to destroy that ship and any crew member aboard if necessary. She shuddered, and hoped it wouldn’t come to that—or if it did, it was the only option available.
She left her workout unfinished and went to her quarters to change and go straight to the bridge with their orders.
USS PROMETHEUS, NEAR ROMULAN NEUTRAL ZONE
The Prometheus was far from Argolis now, cruising steadily at Warp 9.5 straight to the Romulan Neutral Zone. Rekar had ordered the probe emitting the distress call destroyed immediately, but unfortunately too late to prevent it from sending out dozens of messages. The captured vessel was now proceeding in the direction of Romulus, though Rekar had his own plan in mind: instead of meeting Subcommander Almak and the T’Met in the Neutral Zone as planned, he had told them to wait at a new location inside the Alpha Quadrant. Rekar wanted to disappear as quickly as possible.
The bridge was silent. Rekar surveyed the scene with pleasure: he was firmly in command, having shown his bravery and efficiency against the humans and proving his competence as a commander. He was no coward. He hoped Nevala, the Tal Shiar political officer on board, would realize the power he commanded. After all, he was now the most powerful Romulan captain in the Empire…perhaps if the Tal Shiar did not recognize him as the capable commander he was, the Prometheus could be used as a powerful tool of persuasion.
An alarm broke the commander’s concentration.
“Commander,” Nevala said, “there’s a vessel approaching on an intercept course. It’s Starfleet.”
“I told you to mask our warp trail!” Rekar screamed.
“I’m trying. These new systems are unfamiliar. We should have left some of the crew alive.” Nevala had hoped one of her men could operate the ship, but they were having trouble learning the new, advanced Federation systems.
“You’d be surprised how stubborn humans can be.”
“The Starfleet ship is closing.”
“Raise shields,” Rekar told the bridge, “and prepare to fire phasers.”
USS BONCHUNE
They had modified their sensor pod to pick up the Prometheus’ faint but visible warp trail. Whoever was operating the ship had gone to great lengths to mask it, but they hadn’t quite succeeded. Sensors showed ship was headed straight for the Beta Quadrant, which Hurt had thought was odd.
On the viewscreen, Hurt could see the Prometheus grow as they moved closer, matching its warp speed. She knew the decisive moment was coming, the moment when they would find out just what happened over there.
“Are we within hailing distance?”
“Yes, Captain,” said Lieutenant Reynolds.
“Hail them.”
The hailing chimes rang.
“This is Captain Alexis Hurt of the starship Bonchune. Prometheus, please respond.”
There was no response. The Prometheus continued, showing no sign it had received the message.
“Prometheus, respond or you will be fired upon.”
“Captain,” Reynolds said, “their communications system appear to be switched off—I don’t think they’re receiving.”
“Why would they do that?”
“Captain, there’s something else…I’ve scanned the ship. I’m reading only 27 life signs…all Romulan.”
Hurt’s eyes widened. Romulans. It wasn’t the Dominion who’d taken over the ship, it was the Romulans. And the Federation had been lobbying to get them to join the war against the Dominion!
“Lieutenant, prepare to fire. Take out their shields, then their weapons.”
“Aye aye, ma’am.”
------
The Prometheus rumbled as a phaser hit their aft. The Starfleet vessel was firing. Another shot him them, then a third, striking the ship’s bow, and causing a large jolt to shake the vessel.
“Shields are holding.” Nevala calmly reported.
“Engage the Multi-Vector Assault Mode.” Rekar relished this opportunity.
“That system has never been tested!” Nevala pleaded. The commandoes had been unable to decipher the coding surrounding the weapons system, and there had not been time to test it out.
“Then we’ll test it now!” Rekar was growing frustrated with the woman.
The ship rocked again. A warning light indicated shields had deteriorated further.
Nevala still hesitated. Rekar saw no movement. He stood up like a Livonian bear on its hind legs.
“I gave you an order; I expect you to follow it. Multi-Vector Assault Mode. Now!”
“Yes, Commander.” Nevala pressed a few buttons. Rekar felt another triumph, a further validation of his authority. The lights dimmed; a Blue Alert began.
The Computer Voice said in a monotone, “Auto-separation in ten seconds…”
-------
“Something’s happening with the Prometheus!” Reynolds yelled. “I’m detecting some kind of power surge…”
Hurt knew instantly what it was.
“Brace yourselves!”
------
What was once the intact, dagger hull of the Prometheus split as if sliced by a hot knife. The saucer section, Section Alpha, went first, deploying two nacelles for power; the secondary hull then split in half itself, the bottom (Beta) and middle (Gamma) sections each having two nacelles for power. There were now three independent weapons ships facing the Bonchune.
---------
“We’re in attack formation,” Nevala reported to Rekar. The Commander was now standing over her shoulder, watching her every move. “Each section is armed and responding to our command.”
The ship rocked from another phaser blast. An explosion at a console in the back knocked Major Sorgle to the ground, injuring him. Nevala noticed it; Rekar did not.
“Attack Pattern Beta 4-7!” Rekar commanded.
“Specify target,” responded the incessant Computer Voice.
“The Starfleet Vessel! Bearing One Six Two Mark Seven!”
“Pattern and target confirmed.”
------------
The three Prometheus sections slowed, letting the Bonchune pass them in warp. Section Gamma fired first, then Section Beta, then Section Alpha. All three phasers found their mark on the weakest point of the vessel, in the aft near the dorsal sensor pod. Section Gamma fired again, hitting the targeted spot and causing a huge explosion to rupture out of the back of the Nebula-class starship.
“Damage report!” Hurt yelled.
“Our sensor grid is offline!” shouted Reynolds. “They hit us pretty bad. We can’t maintain this speed!”
“Lieutenant, get us out of here!”
“Aye, Captain!”
The Bonchune peeled off from its three attackers, quickly dropping out of warp.
----
“I think we should consider that a successful test!” Rekar boasted. “Begin the reintegration sequence, and give me a full damage report!”
“Yes, Commander.” Nevala did so, but heard the gasp of the wounded Sorgle to her left. She stood up and walked over to help the man, burned on his face and crawling on one hand. Rekar noticed this as he sat back down. Did this woman really care that much about her men? Frankly, it sickened him. Her post was at the conn, not attending to some scratches.
“He’s hurt,” Nevala said.
“Take him to the medical bay!” he shouted back. Rekar reasoned that it would be good if Nevala were off the bridge.
Major Sorgle climbed on Nevala’s shoulder for support, and the two entered a turbolift.
-----------
In sickbay, Nevala stepped over the body of a dead Starfleet officer without flinching. She set Sorgle down on the table, gently. She had trained with him for months and wasn’t about to see one of them suffer on bridge. She would—
“Please state the nature of the medical emergency.”
Nevala straightened, startled, almost reaching for her disruptor. But the voice was only from the Emergency Medical Hologram.
“Who activated you?”
“ You did, automatically, when you entered sickbay.” The EMH walked over to a tray and pulled out a medical scanner.
“Can you treat him?”
“Of course, that's my function.” Nevala regarded the hologram as he scanned the major. He was balding, seemed rather curt, and oddly, programmed with the old blue medical uniform Starfleet discontinued a year ago. Starfleet must not have reset their medical holograms.
“Third-degree burns, hairline jaw fracture, and a ruptured blood vessel in his brain. I'll have to operate.”
“You're a Starfleet program. Why should I trust you?”
“I'm a doctor. Whether my patient is human, or Romulan, I'll do everything in my power to save him. You're welcome to assist me if you like, or maybe you'd just prefer to supervise.” The doctor carried over a tray with medical tools. Nevala regarded them, but had no knowledge of what he was doing.
“ Report to me when you're finished.”
As she left, she heard a strange “Mm-hmm” from the hologram.
Feedback welcome!
STARBASE 400, STARDATE 51462
“Admiral, we picked up a distress signal.”
David Sorenson turned. He’d been reviewing the manifests of the half-dozen starships visiting the starbase when Groya told him to come to the command post immediately. He rushed there as fast as he could. “From who, Groya?”
“The signal came from a Class VI probe. As far as we can tell we’re the only Starfleet outpost to receive it. It’s from the Prometheus, sir.”
Sorenson froze. No, he thought. It can’t be from them. “Play it.”
Groya tapped a few buttons on his control panel. The recorded message began playing.
“Prometheus attacked. Send help immediately.”
“Is that it?” Sorenson asked.
“I’m afraid so, Admiral.”
Sorenson gritted his teeth and turned to face the rest of the command post. Most of the officers in the room were listening in, eager to learn what had happened to the ship. They could see the admiral was visibly upset. Sorenson recognized the voice on the call as that of Lieutenant Neave, whom he had met just a week earlier and one of the few people trained to operate the Prometheus. But Sorenson was baffled why they would send such a succinct distress message. And from a probe, too, rather than over subspace. It was almost as if…
“They did send us their coordinates, too, sir,” Groya said, interrupting the admiral’s train of thought.
“Where are they?” Sorenson leaned over Groya’s shoulder as the Bolian punched up the Prometheus’ location.
“That’s at the outer edges of the Argolis Cluster, sir.”
“Good God. The Jem’Hadar must’ve ambushed them as they entered the Cluster. That whole sector’s a hazard for sensors and warp travel; the Prometheus probably didn’t even detect them.”
“Sir, we don’t know who attacked them.”
“Well, who else would it be?” Sorenson walked over to a terminal on the other side of the room. The ensign manning it kindly stepped aside, and Sorenson began typing furiously. His mind was thinking only of the USS Prometheus, the ship he had helped design, and what had happened to it. After a few seconds, Sorenson brought up on the screen a map of the Argolis Cluster and input the coordinates relayed in the distress call. A blip appeared representing the Prometheus, and other blips popped up indicating nearby starships.
“According to our logs, the nearest vessel is the USS Bonchune. It’s currently on reconnaissance duty in the sector. Commander Groya, give them orders to track and intercept the Prometheus.”
“Yes sir.”
Sorenson turned to go to his office, then stopped. “Tell the Bonchune that if anything’s amiss, that if they hail the ship and no one responds, then they are to fire upon the ship and disable it, and wait for further assistance.”
“Sir?”
“The Jem’Hadar have been known to capture starships. Board ‘em and take out the crew. By God, I’m not going to have the Jem’Hadar in possession of our most advanced ship.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And send a subspace message to Tileyo. Tell them to send some ships to follow the Bonchune. I want as many vessels in hot pursuit of this dreadnought as we can muster. If the Jem’Hadar have learned how to operate the Multi-Vector Assault Mode, we’re in for a tough fight.”
“Yes, sir.” Groya got up from his post and went to Communications to relay the message. Sorenson turned to his office. The Prometheus? Attacked? Or worse…captured? This merited a drink, and it wasn’t going to have synthehol.
USS BONCHUNE, NEAR ARGOLIS CLUSTER
Captain Alexis Hurt, 51, let go of the gymnastics bar as soon as she was hailed. She always worked out in the morning before reviewing the Bonchune’s latest sensor logs; it helped her relax before the long day of tedium ahead. She was remarkably fit, especially for her age, a factor which she believed had impressed her superiors and gotten her command of the Bonchune—though she’d wished for a little more action. Since taking command two years previously, she’d done nothing but make sensor sweeps of areas with suspected enemy activity, whether it was Klingon, Cardassian, or Dominion. No action for months.
Hurt tapped a communications screen mounted on the gym wall. Maybe this was the call she was waiting for.
“Priority message from Starbase 400,” Lieutenant Reynolds relayed over the viewscreen.
“Put it through.”
The screen changed from Reynolds to reveal Groya, Admiral Sorenson’s personal assistant.
“Captain Hurt,” Groya said.
“Commander Groya.” They were both familiar with each other, the Bonchune having undergone a retrofit at Starbase 400 some weeks earlier.
“What I am about to tell you, Captain, is highly classified. We have reason to believe the USS Prometheus, one of our most advanced starships, was attacked somewhere near the Argolis Cluster approximately one day ago.”
“The Dominion?”
“We don’t know, but we’re assuming so. Admiral Sorenson has ordered the Bonchune to find the starship and ascertain what exactly has happened to it.”
“Has their been any contact with the Prometheus?”
“Only a distress call a few hours old.”
Hurt said nothing for a moment. This would finally be a chance for action, to actually be a part of this war. She just wished it was under different circumstances.
“How can we find it?”
“We’re sending you their last known coordinates. Our observation posts have lost track of the vessel, but we believe if you modify the range and frequencies of your long-range sensor scans, you can detect its warp trail and locate it. We don’t know if it’s been captured, crippled or destroyed.” Groya’s face changed from neutral to grave.
“We’ll do our best, Commander.”
“Oh, one more thing, Captain. The use of deadly force is authorized. If you must fire on it to disable it, so be it. And if you have no choice but to destroy the ship, then you must do so. The ship must not be allowed to fall into enemy hands—and you must be wary yourself. A Nebula-class ship is no match for this monster.”
“Thank you, Commander.”
The communication ended. Hurt could say or do nothing for a moment. One minute she was excited about a chance to prove herself as a captain, the next minute that feeling had all but evaporated. She had been told to fire on a Starfleet ship if threatened—indeed, to destroy that ship and any crew member aboard if necessary. She shuddered, and hoped it wouldn’t come to that—or if it did, it was the only option available.
She left her workout unfinished and went to her quarters to change and go straight to the bridge with their orders.
USS PROMETHEUS, NEAR ROMULAN NEUTRAL ZONE
The Prometheus was far from Argolis now, cruising steadily at Warp 9.5 straight to the Romulan Neutral Zone. Rekar had ordered the probe emitting the distress call destroyed immediately, but unfortunately too late to prevent it from sending out dozens of messages. The captured vessel was now proceeding in the direction of Romulus, though Rekar had his own plan in mind: instead of meeting Subcommander Almak and the T’Met in the Neutral Zone as planned, he had told them to wait at a new location inside the Alpha Quadrant. Rekar wanted to disappear as quickly as possible.
The bridge was silent. Rekar surveyed the scene with pleasure: he was firmly in command, having shown his bravery and efficiency against the humans and proving his competence as a commander. He was no coward. He hoped Nevala, the Tal Shiar political officer on board, would realize the power he commanded. After all, he was now the most powerful Romulan captain in the Empire…perhaps if the Tal Shiar did not recognize him as the capable commander he was, the Prometheus could be used as a powerful tool of persuasion.
An alarm broke the commander’s concentration.
“Commander,” Nevala said, “there’s a vessel approaching on an intercept course. It’s Starfleet.”
“I told you to mask our warp trail!” Rekar screamed.
“I’m trying. These new systems are unfamiliar. We should have left some of the crew alive.” Nevala had hoped one of her men could operate the ship, but they were having trouble learning the new, advanced Federation systems.
“You’d be surprised how stubborn humans can be.”
“The Starfleet ship is closing.”
“Raise shields,” Rekar told the bridge, “and prepare to fire phasers.”
USS BONCHUNE
They had modified their sensor pod to pick up the Prometheus’ faint but visible warp trail. Whoever was operating the ship had gone to great lengths to mask it, but they hadn’t quite succeeded. Sensors showed ship was headed straight for the Beta Quadrant, which Hurt had thought was odd.
On the viewscreen, Hurt could see the Prometheus grow as they moved closer, matching its warp speed. She knew the decisive moment was coming, the moment when they would find out just what happened over there.
“Are we within hailing distance?”
“Yes, Captain,” said Lieutenant Reynolds.
“Hail them.”
The hailing chimes rang.
“This is Captain Alexis Hurt of the starship Bonchune. Prometheus, please respond.”
There was no response. The Prometheus continued, showing no sign it had received the message.
“Prometheus, respond or you will be fired upon.”
“Captain,” Reynolds said, “their communications system appear to be switched off—I don’t think they’re receiving.”
“Why would they do that?”
“Captain, there’s something else…I’ve scanned the ship. I’m reading only 27 life signs…all Romulan.”
Hurt’s eyes widened. Romulans. It wasn’t the Dominion who’d taken over the ship, it was the Romulans. And the Federation had been lobbying to get them to join the war against the Dominion!
“Lieutenant, prepare to fire. Take out their shields, then their weapons.”
“Aye aye, ma’am.”
------
The Prometheus rumbled as a phaser hit their aft. The Starfleet vessel was firing. Another shot him them, then a third, striking the ship’s bow, and causing a large jolt to shake the vessel.
“Shields are holding.” Nevala calmly reported.
“Engage the Multi-Vector Assault Mode.” Rekar relished this opportunity.
“That system has never been tested!” Nevala pleaded. The commandoes had been unable to decipher the coding surrounding the weapons system, and there had not been time to test it out.
“Then we’ll test it now!” Rekar was growing frustrated with the woman.
The ship rocked again. A warning light indicated shields had deteriorated further.
Nevala still hesitated. Rekar saw no movement. He stood up like a Livonian bear on its hind legs.
“I gave you an order; I expect you to follow it. Multi-Vector Assault Mode. Now!”
“Yes, Commander.” Nevala pressed a few buttons. Rekar felt another triumph, a further validation of his authority. The lights dimmed; a Blue Alert began.
The Computer Voice said in a monotone, “Auto-separation in ten seconds…”
-------
“Something’s happening with the Prometheus!” Reynolds yelled. “I’m detecting some kind of power surge…”
Hurt knew instantly what it was.
“Brace yourselves!”
------
What was once the intact, dagger hull of the Prometheus split as if sliced by a hot knife. The saucer section, Section Alpha, went first, deploying two nacelles for power; the secondary hull then split in half itself, the bottom (Beta) and middle (Gamma) sections each having two nacelles for power. There were now three independent weapons ships facing the Bonchune.
---------
“We’re in attack formation,” Nevala reported to Rekar. The Commander was now standing over her shoulder, watching her every move. “Each section is armed and responding to our command.”
The ship rocked from another phaser blast. An explosion at a console in the back knocked Major Sorgle to the ground, injuring him. Nevala noticed it; Rekar did not.
“Attack Pattern Beta 4-7!” Rekar commanded.
“Specify target,” responded the incessant Computer Voice.
“The Starfleet Vessel! Bearing One Six Two Mark Seven!”
“Pattern and target confirmed.”
------------
The three Prometheus sections slowed, letting the Bonchune pass them in warp. Section Gamma fired first, then Section Beta, then Section Alpha. All three phasers found their mark on the weakest point of the vessel, in the aft near the dorsal sensor pod. Section Gamma fired again, hitting the targeted spot and causing a huge explosion to rupture out of the back of the Nebula-class starship.
“Damage report!” Hurt yelled.
“Our sensor grid is offline!” shouted Reynolds. “They hit us pretty bad. We can’t maintain this speed!”
“Lieutenant, get us out of here!”
“Aye, Captain!”
The Bonchune peeled off from its three attackers, quickly dropping out of warp.
----
“I think we should consider that a successful test!” Rekar boasted. “Begin the reintegration sequence, and give me a full damage report!”
“Yes, Commander.” Nevala did so, but heard the gasp of the wounded Sorgle to her left. She stood up and walked over to help the man, burned on his face and crawling on one hand. Rekar noticed this as he sat back down. Did this woman really care that much about her men? Frankly, it sickened him. Her post was at the conn, not attending to some scratches.
“He’s hurt,” Nevala said.
“Take him to the medical bay!” he shouted back. Rekar reasoned that it would be good if Nevala were off the bridge.
Major Sorgle climbed on Nevala’s shoulder for support, and the two entered a turbolift.
-----------
In sickbay, Nevala stepped over the body of a dead Starfleet officer without flinching. She set Sorgle down on the table, gently. She had trained with him for months and wasn’t about to see one of them suffer on bridge. She would—
“Please state the nature of the medical emergency.”
Nevala straightened, startled, almost reaching for her disruptor. But the voice was only from the Emergency Medical Hologram.
“Who activated you?”
“ You did, automatically, when you entered sickbay.” The EMH walked over to a tray and pulled out a medical scanner.
“Can you treat him?”
“Of course, that's my function.” Nevala regarded the hologram as he scanned the major. He was balding, seemed rather curt, and oddly, programmed with the old blue medical uniform Starfleet discontinued a year ago. Starfleet must not have reset their medical holograms.
“Third-degree burns, hairline jaw fracture, and a ruptured blood vessel in his brain. I'll have to operate.”
“You're a Starfleet program. Why should I trust you?”
“I'm a doctor. Whether my patient is human, or Romulan, I'll do everything in my power to save him. You're welcome to assist me if you like, or maybe you'd just prefer to supervise.” The doctor carried over a tray with medical tools. Nevala regarded them, but had no knowledge of what he was doing.
“ Report to me when you're finished.”
As she left, she heard a strange “Mm-hmm” from the hologram.
