"True Dedication"
[Previous post: "Fixer-Upper ", written by the commanding Sabrina Jones]
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Stardate: 60324.2040
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Deck 10, Section 11-Alpha
Lea took a moment to take in the chaos that was in front of her. Instead of the corridor that should have been there, the CMO saw nothing but debris. The damage was contained to a specific area, but that did not reduce the impact that it had on Lea. The CMO could imagine that the CEO would be pissed beyond words when he saw this, but Lea had more important things on her mind. What if someone had been caught beneath this mess of twisted metal?
The sound of metal rubbing on metal filled the corridor. Lea was no engineer but she knew that this mean the are was not safe. The CMO could imagine that those on the bridge were trying to move the Cardassian ship out. This meant that she needed to act quickly and get out of there before things got worse.
"I didn't think it would be that bad," Susan said, stopping a few steps behind Lea who had pulled out her tricorder.
"Bad is a matter of perspective," Lea said scanning the pile of debris at her feet which rose to midway to the ceiling. "According to these readings, this is as good as it can be."
"No one stuck under all that metal?" The Cns asked in a matter-of-fact tone, making her question be more of a statement than anything else. "How do we reach the other side?"
"Only two possibilities," Lea said with a sigh. "We either go around and waste time, or we go over."
"Always loved the cross country obstacle course back at the Academy," Susan said, already half way up the shifting pile of twisted metal.
"I think you need to speak to a counsellor," Lea said with a chuckle as she followed. "I think there is something severely wrong with you."
"What is wrong about liking to see well defined muscles glistening in sweat?" Susan asked indicating that her enjoyment of the obstacle course was not as a participant.
"No comments," the CMO said through her laughter. Lea had been very grateful for the momentary distraction provided by the discussion. It had made the CMO forget for a brief moment the horrors that the two of them might end up running into. All that Lea could do was to hope that luck was on their side once again.
"Wait!" Susan said, stopping at the top of the mountain of debris. "I heard something."
Lea reached for her tricorder after having secured her footing. Within seconds the CMO found what had most likely been the source of what Susan had heard. "Behind that door," Lea said, pointing to a door that was partially pushed open by the debris.
"Hold on, help is on the way!" Susan called out wanting to reassure whoever had made the noise that they were no longer alone. Following her friend over the mound of twisted metal and into the room, Lea eventually caught up. Once inside she saw the Cns taking care of a crewman whose leg vanished beneath a large beam. "We'll get you out of here in no time," Susan said doing her best to reassure the injured crewman.
Lea reached inside of her med kit and pulled out a hypospray containing a tranquilizer and pain suppressant. "This will help with the pain while we get you free," the CMO said not really certain as to how they would be able to accomplish this. The beam seemed heavy enough to give their CEO more than its share of problems.
After looking at each other for a few moments, Susan tapped her communicator. "Ens. Mei to transporter room 2, prepare for an emergency beam out to sickbay."
Lea quickly reached over and placed her hand on Susan's shoulder. The CMO shook her head and showed the Cns what her tricorder had discovered. The crewman's leg had been so badly crushed that a beam-out would have been impossible. The would need to transport the entire beam along and that could make things worse. Like pulling the wrong cards in a house of cards, that beam could bring everything else on top of them.
"Go, get help," Susan said. "I'll stay here with him."
"I should be the one staying," Lea said, thinking of the crewman's immediate medical needs.
"If there is someone else injured out there, they will need you, not me," Susan said, motioning her friend to get going. "Tricorders are not working as well as they should in this mess. So you need to be out there, not in here."
Lea hesitated for a few moments but soon found Susan's logic to be beyond reproach. So after leaving another hypospray with Susan, Lea rushed out through the bashed in door in search of help. The sooner she could find someone, the sooner that crewman and her friend Susan would be out of danger.
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Tiffany Rose {lady_tiffany_rose@mail.com}
Ensign Lea Summers 2005 post #309
Chief Medical Officer
USS ANUBIS
