"There Is Nothing To Fear But Fear Itself"
[Previous post: "Executive Meeting", written by the always ready Serena Switt]
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Stardate: 60324.1330
Setting: USS ANUBIS, CMO's Office
Lea had returned to her office after the last of the injured crew members had been dismissed from Sickbay. None of the injuries that had been treated by the CMO and her staff had been life threatening but Lea was exhausted. All of the lacerations she had treated over the last hour had been classified by the CMO as 'nasty'. Some of the security officers who had engaged those creatures had come to her looking as if they had run through a field of sharp blades.
What truly troubled Lea was that the injuries had been for the most part shallow. This meant that the creatures, for a reason known to only them, had been holding back. Had they been fighting to their fullest potential, the CMO was certain that the biobeds would still be full. Many of them with immobile bodies covered from head to toe by a simple white sheet.
"Are you alright?" Susan asked of Lea. The Cns had walked into the office to see her friend, but instead had found a depressed looking woman. Susan had not been made aware of the possibility that the ANUBIS would suffer casualties from the attack. As the ship's Cns she was required to know such things so as to be ready to console the crew. Expecting the worst, Susan pulled up a chair and sat next to the CMO. "What happened?"
"Nothing happened?" Lea said playfully pushing her friend back. "I'm just tired from all of the injuries that passed through Sickbay."
Susan's eyes narrowed as she glared at Lea. The Cns and CMO had not known each other for all that long, but it had been long enough for Susan to know that something was not right. "Lea, I don't buy it. I have seen you do twice as much as you did in half the time. Something is on your mind and I am not leaving until you tell me what it is."
"Have I told you lately that I hate you?" Lea hissed as she got up from her chair and walked away from her desk.
"Actually," Susan grinned, "yes. Now spill it."
"I will not talk to a Cns," the CMO said in complete seriousness. "But I am willing to talk to a friend."
Susan smiled. In her line of work she knew that having a friend to talk to was often better than having a professional to unload to. In this case, Susan had been happy to have it confirm that Lea and she were indeed friends. "This will be totally off the record," Susan said while removing her communicator. The communicator had nothing to do with this other than to show that the Cns was no longer on duty. That gesture proved to be all that Lea needed to make her feel completely at ease.
"I have been thinking about the crew of the MERCURY and those creatures that boarded the ANUBIS," Lea explained. "From the depth and angles of the cuts, I could tell that those monsters held back. They did not fight as hard as they could have. Despite this, the amount of injuries they inflicted were numerous and extensive. I am just scared to think what they did to the MERCURY's crew. If and when we find them, how are they going to be? We came here to rescue them, not find them in shreds."
"Like I told the captain during the meeting," Susan said while giving her friend a comforting hug. "From their psychological profile, I highly doubt that Zulot and T'Preel gave up control of their hostages. It is true that I cannot confirm this, but my guess is that those creatures are the grunts. They do the dirty work leaving the Cardassians with the simple task of picking up the pieces. Zulot may be a lowlife of the worst kind, but he is not the type to give up any advantage he has. I am sure that the crew of the MERCURY is out there safe and sound, and waiting for us to rescue them."
From having spent quite a lot of time in Dominion space and having been in the position that the crew of the MERCURY was in, Lea knew better. The CMO knew that her friend had said what she had only to make her feel better. It was very possible that Zulot was the type not to forsake an advantage, but the prisoners held other benefits. Through torture some of them would in time reveal information that the Gul would find very useful. That possibility only strengthened Lea's fears. Being in the hands of that Cardassian meant that the crew of the MERCURY had a chance, as little as it may be.
Lea looked at her friend and smiled. "Thanks," the CMO said. "So when are we going in for the rescue?"
"Lt. Cmdr. Serenna, Lt. Cmdr. Enaii and Ens. Doratheva are working on that as we speak," Susan replied.
Lea's eyes opened wide at the three names mentioned by Susan. "I'd better get back to Sickbay and get it ready. With those three in charge of the rescue, I might be called upon to glue back together whatever poor soul gets in their way."
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Tiffany Rose {lady_tiffany_rose@mail.com}
Ensign Lea Summers 2005 post #291
Chief Medical Officer
USS ANUBIS
