Author Topic: S2 M5: Old Wounds  (Read 55762 times)

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Offline Kintiss

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Re: S2 M5: Old Wounds
« Reply #300 on: March 05, 2018, 09:21:47 am »
Having watched the growing excitement among the medical staff, Latean had realised they'd discovered something. While recovering from his injuries, he had been chatting with a really nice green girl named s'Metra, who seemed impressed by his bravery. Now, he had to prove it again. The young Teplan, the first vaccinated by Bashir and infected by the 5th strain, climbed to his feet and approached the doctors. 'Doctor Trepan? Doctor Kintiss? If you have something, I– I offer myself to test it.'

'You don't have to do this, son. It could be dangerous.'

'I have to. For everyone else.'

[Hospital, Teplanea]

Julian Bashir, eat your heart out, Kintiss thought as he examined the results of his work. He couldn't have asked for anything better than a pure sample of the virus AND a proper treatment. Finally, the situation was looking up, and he had the Dominion's clumsy attempt at reworking the Quickening to thank for it. The devised treatment was the best he could do with what he had. If Starfleet Medical could figure out a real cure with more advanced medical equipment, a proper relief effort could begin.

The theory behind the treatment was sound. All they needed now was a test subject.

And there was Latean, ready-made and offering himself up.

"No need to worry about it, Dr. Trepan," Kintiss said somewhat reassuringly. "I'm 95% ssssure the treatment will work." He lifted a small hypodermic, which held within the results of an eternity of agonising over petri dishes and microscopes. "It'll sssssting, though," he added as he aimed the needle at Latean's neck.

Offline Ian Galloway

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Re: S2 M5: Old Wounds
« Reply #301 on: March 05, 2018, 11:19:47 am »
[Outside Hospital, Teplanea]

Jada nodded to Galloway. 'Aye, sir. You may consider this hospital held.' she answered confidently then passed him the shield with a short bow. Afterward, she moved off and with a few terse orders and gestures she directed her yellowshirts to revise how they secured the perimeter; she'd spied a group of Teplans circling east and didn't want to be surprised from behind, and she wanted backup on Galloway in case negotiations went awry.

She passed the Vorta's communicator to Chav, a tusked Tellarite good with tech and heavy weapons alike. 'Here, maybe you can do something with this.' He peered curiously down his snout at the thing, then began to test it with stubby but not clumsy fingers. 'And you'll need to keep an eye on the prisoner.' Jada pushed Devs into the dirt at his boots. She didn't have people to spare for separate guard duty, but while the Vorta was bound hand-and-foot, he wasn't going far before Chav could bring him down again.

*

Galloway looked out over a seething mob; he'd headed off an outraged reaction by the group at the well, but they'd been surprised and had had no agitators among them. This mob were Torva's band, whipped up by her and hungry for retribution. His revelation that the poisoner was a Vorta caused shocked gasps and renewed calls for blood. Still, he seemed to have given them something to think about, as he'd held off any assault or rush.

Then, surprisingly, Torva pushed her way to the front, advancing on Galloway, red-faced with anger. Since she was alone, he seemed to be safe, for now. 'Choice? What choice do we have?' she demanded. 'We're trapped on this wreck of a world, watching our children die, just waiting to die ourselves. We've been denied retribution against the Dominion for centuries. We signed no treaty with you or the Dominion, and you ask us to respect yours? What right do you have? Just words on paper! No, we have a right to revenge, a right to our rage. We need release!'

She turned back to her followers, raising a fist. 'Come on! Take the Vorta to the Stones!'

Some dutifully hurried to her side, but many hung back, hesitant, divided by Galloway's speech. 'Maybe we should just let the doctors work.' one suggested.

'The doctors failed!'

'But they get there in the end.'

Recovered from the earlier assault, Netia limped into the scene, aided by Jada. She had a bandage on her head, and the injury to respected elder made the mob feel shame. 'We can be better than this, Torva. We were better than this, before the Dominion broke us. But we still have our dignity and kindness. Let's trust to that. Justice, not revenge.'

'But what justice is there for my son?' Torva sobbed, her anger breaking.

Netia placed frail arms around the shoulders, consoling her. 'There will be, in time.'

*

Meanwhile, Chav had figured out the communicator's controls and functions. Remembering the prohibition against EM fields, he'd placeed it inside a Faraday-cage pouch to block signals. It was a short-range radio-frequency communicator, designed to contact ships in orbit, probably to inform a Jem'Hadar vessel when Devs's mission was done, if ever the Dominion bothered to collect him. It also controlled the orbiting mines that blockaded Teplanea against aid. 'Aha!' Figuring it was better to deactivate those mines as soon as possible, and seeing there were no Teplans close by, he pulled it from the pouch...

From the corner of his eye, Devs had glimpsed the fat Tellarite's actions. Even with his mutilated ears, he'd heard the familiar, dull beeps and knew what mode it was in. And it was voice-activated. 'Activate all mines! Attack mode!' he yelled, hurling himself bodily at the Tellarite before Chav could get it back inside the pouch. Chav gave a swinish squeal, punched the Vorta down and tried frantically to undo the action. 'Deactivate all mines! Deactivate!'

Meanwhile, Devs gave a sudden cry of agony. His own communicator had been advancing his Quickening, every time he used it, and these high-energy pulses had been his limit. The branching black scars on his face turned angry red, and he rolled around in the dirt, screaming and whimpering. 'Founders!' he cried out to his uncaring gods.

*

Everyone had seen the Vorta's Quickening, and now everyone watched him die.

'There's justice, Torva, if you want it.' Netia said coolly, pointing back to him.

Torva watched, trembling, as she finally found some measure of satisfaction for her need for revenge, justice, or whatever, as she found closure for her grief at the death of her child. A hollow smiled flickered across her face at the Vorta's death throes, but was quickly replaced by a scowl, by a look of guilt. 'I don't feel any better.' she muttered.

'No, I didn't think you would.' Netia sighed.

'I– I hurt you, Latean, everyone.'

'I forgive you.'

[Outside Hospital, Teplanea]

As Ian listened to the arguments that would decide his fate, he thought back to a poem by Kipling, a favorite of his father, that was all too appropriate to his situation called "Soldier an' Sailor too". When he was learning the poem, something his father had insisted he do, he wondered if he'd have the courage to face the Birkenhead Drill, and now, here he was doing just that.

'But what justice is there for my son?' Torva sobbed, her anger breaking.

On hearing the anguish in Torva's voice, Ian nodded grimly. "Aye, and that's a damned tough bullet ta chew. Now it all makes sense." He thought and when the exchange between her an Netia was over, he could sympathize with the angry woman for the first time.

Figuring he wasn't going to be beaten to death, Ian released the breath he'd been holding, just in time for the danse macabre to play out with the Vorta, and figure maybe he could speak without intruding.

"Miss Netia. Miss Torva. There has been enough anger and hate. As you have just experienced. Vengeance can only bring cold comfort at best. If you will permit an outsider's opinion, I think it's time to heal."

Ian offered a small warm smile and hoped that today was just the first on what would pass for recovery on Teplanea.

Offline Jada

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Re: S2 M5: Old Wounds
« Reply #302 on: March 06, 2018, 01:40:20 am »
[Hospital, Teplanea]

"No need to worry about it, Dr. Trepan," Kintiss said somewhat reassuringly. "I'm 95% ssssure the treatment will work." He lifted a small hypodermic, which held within the results of an eternity of agonising over petri dishes and microscopes. "It'll sssssting, though," he added as he aimed the needle at Latean's neck.

'No more than those stones.' Latean said confidently with a put-on brave look to s'Metra. He winced as the hypospray injected the Vorta self-antigen treatment into his bloodstream. He waited. Nothing happened, and he wondered he would know if something did. 'Um?'

Then he felt fire creep along the branches of the Blight on his face, and he screamed. s'Metra caught him before he collapsed, and steered him onto a bed.

'The Quickening...' Trepan gasped, ashen-faced.

'No. Look!'

Instead of turning an angry red, as they did in the final Quickening stage, the black lesions turned gray, and finally pinkish, matching Latean's natural colour. They didn't disappeared completely, however; the scarring would take much long to heal, if it ever did. 'The lesions aren't turning necrotic... The virus is in remission!' Trepan exclaimed, as Latean recovered. The doctor performed several tests of blood, saliva, and cells taken from the lesions to be sure. 'With more Vorta antigen treatments, together with the existing vaccination and the low amount of virus infection, we can keep the 5th strain suppressed, perhaps one day even eradicate it entirely.'

'Ow. I'm just glad to have some more life ahead of me yet.'
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Offline Jada

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Re: S2 M5: Old Wounds
« Reply #303 on: March 06, 2018, 01:40:44 am »
[Outside Hospital, Teplanea]

Quote from: Ian Galloway
"Miss Netia. Miss Torva. There has been enough anger and hate. As you have just experienced. Vengeance can only bring cold comfort at best. If you will permit an outsider's opinion, I think it's time to heal."

Ian offered a small warm smile and hoped that today was just the first on what would pass for recovery on Teplanea.

Netia nodded and answered for Torva. 'Yes, I think it is.'

Soon after, some very obvious healing came, as Latean stepped outside, accompanied by Doctors Kintiss and Trepan. It was apparent to all that that the lesions on his face had paled. He was the first cured of the Blight by Doctor Bashir, and now he looked to be the first cured by Doctor Kintiss of the new strain. He waved to the crowd that had gathered around the hospital, not only Torva's former mob, but also Teplan citizens who'd gathered around, everyone shocked by the revelation of the second Dominion attack and the possibility of a new treatment.

'We have a treatment for the new strain of the Blight!' Trepan announced. 'With the contaminated well blocked and cleansed, it will cease to spread and no one else has to suffer. Vaccinations for the old strains will recommence tomorrow morning.'

Latean, the young firebrand, jumped in. 'The Dominion came to break us again, but with the help of these outworlders and their science, they failed! We are Teplans and we will survive!'
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Offline Jada

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Re: S2 M5: Old Wounds
« Reply #304 on: March 06, 2018, 01:41:20 am »
[Wrap-up]

A treatment had been found, but there was still much work to do.

Aboard the Tempest, medical staff synthesised large quantities of the Vorta self-antigen to treat those infected by the 5th strain of the Blight. Hopefully, with time, the virus would go into full remission or be cured.

It was also necessary to decontaminate the western well. Several techniques presented themselves: beam out the virus-laden water and sterilise the interior; block it up completely and dig another; and others. In any case, the starship crew and their technology were to be instrumental in this project.

Samples of the pure 5th-strain Blight virus, the Vorta's blood and other body parts, were split up between Doctor Trepan and Doctor Kintiss, so research into a full cure could continue in the future, with the Teplans' hard-earned experience on one side, and the Federation's greater resources and technology on the other. The Teplans needed this vital research for their very survival, but their world was far from important to the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. Nevertheless, doctors across space were moved by their plight and the challenge of curing the incurable disease, while the Federation acted on humanitarian grounds and to wage this war of biology against the Dominion. If anyone could break the Dominion's curse, they would show the Founders were not all-powerful.

Meanwhile, the Tempest and Lirpa were tasked with rounding up and destroying the Houdini-Succubus mines, enabling other space-farers to return to Teplanea, and the Teplans to gradually return to the interstellar stage.

However, at the end of the relief efforts, the Tempest crew discovered to their dismay that their fractious family was to be broken up: the Lirpa had come on a crew exchange, delivering new crew but taking others away.
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