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"Concentrating On What Counts"
[Previous post: 'Operational Changes', written by the intimidating Serena Switt]
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Stardate: 60313.2235
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Sickbay
Lea sat cross-legged on the biobed next to the one on which the CSciO
had been resting on for the last hour or so. The operation to transform
the Shillian into a Cardassian had been long, difficult and at first
glance successful. Although the two races shared many basic structural
similarities, there had been many obstacles to overcome. Making Susan
into a Bajoran named Niema Sol had been nothing special, requiring only
the most basic of medical knowledge. The same could not be said when
it came to the procedure performed on the CSciO.
Doing any type of medical work on someone as unique as a Shillian
proved to be an entirely different story. The Assistant CMO looked away
from her patient for a moment and studied the medical information she had
accumulated during the procedure. The biomorphic capabilities of
Maya's cells had made the transformation far more difficult than anyone
could have envisioned. Lea tried to make sense of some of the data she had
collected, but without more comparative records, the Assistant CMO
could only guess as to why things had been so difficult.
Maya stirred making Lea instantly look up. None of the medical
scanners showed anything wrong, but Lea still felt a growing amount of
uncertainty about what had been accomplished. The cells of the Shillian had
*fought* the changes imposed on them, so much so that Lea was worried
that the cosmetic changes made would be undone. Like a living organism
with a mind of its own, Maya's cells had made the required work
extremely difficult. Because of this, making the Shillian into a Cardassian
had required Lea to do things she had never expected to do as an
Assistant CMO.
Scared and unsure, Lea had decided to watch over Maya while she
recuperated. The Shillian's metabolism had already proven to be
unpredictable, so there was no reason to take any chances. Because of this, and
because she considered Maya as a friend, Lea had readied herself for a
long night.
"How is she?" Sabrina asked in a whispered voice, leaning over the
biobed where Lea had been sitting. The Assistant CMO had been so
preoccupied by the Shillian's condition that she had not heard the ExO come in.
"Her vital signs are stable," Lea replied adding a sigh of concern.
"I'm just not sure if the changes will hold," the Assistant CMO added,
looking onto the sleeping face of the Cardassian woman.
"So I heard," Sabrina said, still keeping her voice to nothing more
than a whisper. "The nurses were talking about some of the complications
you had to deal with."
"It was like pushing a rock uphill using nothing but a wooden stick. I
had to stop all cellular regeneration in an area before being able to
do any work. Once the cosmetic work was done, I had to block cellular
mitosis to insure that the changes wouldn't be undone. What I don't
understand is why Maya never mentioned that her body could regenerate like
this. It was like her body detected the localised trauma and tried to
fight it. So her immune system fought against me the entire time." Lea
said knowing that Sabrina shared a medical background that allowed her
to understand.
"It is possible that she did not know about this," Sabrina said looking
onto the transformed CSciO. "Being the only one of her kind means that
there is no one else to tell anyone about their abilities. Maybe if
Maya had undergone a similar procedure while on EARTH she would have been
made aware of it. Last time I checked though, Starfleet was not in a
habit of performing random facial reconstruction on its officers."
"You are probably right. It doesn't change the fact that I am worried
about her. I have no idea how long the cosmetic surgery will last. I
am just afraid that it will begin to degrade right when Maya needs it
the most." Lea said, looking at the CSciO and ExO.
"We'll have a week to see what happens," Sabrina said, patting the
Assistant CMO on the back in acknowledgement of the work she had done.
"I just hope that her body doesn't decide to take a week and a day to
work its magic."
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Ensign Lea Summers 2005 post #126
Tiffany Rose {lady_tiffany_rose@mail.com}
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS ANUBIS
