Thankyou

Posted on Tue Jul 26th, 2022 @ 7:17am by Captain Akeno Misaki & Lieutenant Commander Mark Johnson
Edited on on Mon Aug 1st, 2022 @ 10:28pm

Mission: Arista
Location: Wayfarer Sickbay

"Captains Log. The Wayfarer remains on the surface next to the Arista Colony. With the Tyranians now gone, we have begun repairs to the ship and the colony buildings. Its been two days since the battle and things are busier than ever. Lieutenant McKenzie has taken upon herself to train the Arista colonists in the use of our phaser rifles, we hope that they can use them to hunt fauna for food and to fend off anymore invaders.

I have been called to sickbay, it would appear that Captain Sistine Fibel was taken ill a short while ago. The doctor had requested my presence."

The doors of the Wayfarer Sickbay swished open and Akeno rushed in. Sistine was laid in the main surgical bed. Commander Miller was also in the sickbay, laid on another biobed sleeping soundly. It was obvious that the medical staff were doing all they could to keep his pain levels down.

"Doctor? You called for me?" Akeno asked outloud hoping to capture the doctor's attention.

Mark was checking on a few patients when his attention got caught by the voice of Captain Misaki. He turned and tried to shoot a reassuring smile even if his tired face gave away something else.

“Yes, ma’am.We treated or are treating all the injured personnel. The balance is pretty hard, as you might see” he pointed at the full biobeds of the sickbay. “Some cases are more worrying than others. Please, come with me, we’ll speak in a more appropriate place” he told her passing over a few orders to another medical colleague and leading the commanding officer to the CMO Office in the sickbay.

“Please, have a seat” he told her motioning for a chair.“I’ve got a few cases to talk to you about.” He breathed deeply and recalled a few medical files on his personal PADD.

“The first one is commander Miller…” he took a brief pause “..he was caught by a grenade and he lost his right leg. We stabilized him and treated the blown off art succeeding in receding it properly, stop the bleeding and regenerating the tissue where the leg had been amputated. But..” he made a worried face while peering over his captain “..I’m not sure he will ever be fit for duty in his conditions. He will need to rest for a long time and then get used to an implant of some sort.” he concluded. 

Akeno sighed. "At least he is alive" she stated.

“The other case is Sistine” he continued “She collapsed not long ago, and she got an emergency transport to here in sickbay. She is unresponsive and unconscious. Her organs and tissues are…deteriorating.” He stopped and recalled a program in his PADD to show Akeno the results of the medical scans. A DNA spiral showed up in the office screen. Unlike a normal human DNA this one was slightly different, a few pieces here and there crossed differently and it was shorter than a normal DNA sequence.

“As you can see, Sistine DNA is unlike ours. She is human but, somewhat modified. Probably the Tyranians modeled their …food…with an…expiration date” he said with a sad grimace.
“We didn’t have time to execute in depth medical scans of all the colonists of the Arista before the Tyranians attack, so we couldn’t spot this earlier” he explained “but all colonists will suffer the same destiny” he paused “Their tissue and organs will all eventually start deteriorating and they will…die” he finished letting his words sink in. 

"So, even if they resisted, they would still have control over them" Akeno replied sadly. "Can you wake her?"

"Hmm, well..." he scratched his tired face with his right hand massaging his chin while thinking out loud "...she currently is in a state of stasis and it's slowing down the deterioration process. If we wake her up, and we can, the deterioration process will kick off again and I don't know how much time she will have before her internal vital organs will start collapsing altogether." he concluded peering over his CO.

"But yes, we can do it" he nodded.

Akeno rose from her chair. "I'd like you to do it doctor" she said simply. "I think its for the best"

Altough unsure, the doctor nodded and moved from the CMO Office to the place in the sickbay where Sistine was laying in stasis.

"There she is" he told Misaki while closing in to the stasis-biobed and accessing a small medical console embedded to it. He tapped a few commands and inserted his authorization code. The stasis halo once barely discernible, disappeared and the close by medical scan console started showing Sistine's vital signs coming back to normality and her organs and cells starting to deteriorate once again.

"She is waking up, Captain" Mark offered to then reach for Sistine's arm to try and reassure her with a smile and his presence while she slowly awakened.

Sistines eyes fluttered as they slowly opened. Her skin looked grey and pale, her veins showing clearly through the pigmentation.
"We won?" she asked softly, her words quiet and hushed.

Akeno leant over slightly, taking her hand from the doctors. "Yeah, we won. However, it seems they did something to you" she explained as she lowered her voice, sadness coming through her tone. "The doctor tells me that the Tyranians put a limit on your lifespan. Thats why even if you resisted you would not live longer than they wanted"

Sistine simply smiled. "I always had a feeling... they would have the... last word..." she said coughing slightly as her lungs began to fail. "I've been fighting them over eighty... years..."

Akeno returned the smile. "The doctor can put you to sleep, you wouldn't feel or notice anything if you wanted?"

Sistine managed enough strength to shake her head. "No..." her voice lowering to a whisper. "I don't want to go in the dark..." she said. "I want to embrace death in the light..."

A tear began to form in Akeno's eye. Even though she knew that Sistine was a lot older than she looked, watching such a young looking life pass away in front of her was painful, her heart ached. Deep down she wished in her heart that she could do something to save the girl, to ensure she continued on and grew up again like she wished. "I heard you wanted to rejoin Starfleet..."

Sistine smirked. "I would have..." she coughed slightly. "It seems that it is my time to go now..." she relaxed slightly looking up at the grey ceiling. "Promise me something Captain..."

"Anything" Akeno replied as she leant in closer, Sistines words were getting quieter and softer, the beeping of the biobed was starting to slowly drown her out.

"Look after your crew..." she said as her grip started to loosen on Akenos hand. "See that my people... my crew... don't suffer in their final days... They have been through... enough..."

"I will do all I can to ensure they live their lives to the fullest Sistine" Akeno assured her. She could feel Sistines grip slowly fading on her, she tightened it to make sure she was aware that she was not alone in her final moments.

"Thankyou..." Sistine replied as her eyes began to flutter again.

"I promise you..."

"...For releasing me from this hell. I can leave you... knowing... that..." she stopped as she took a deep breath. "Finally... We... are... safe..." she turned her head with the last of her strength to look directly into Akeno's eyes. Slowly her other hand reached out and she cupped Akeno's cheek. "Go forth Captain... Don't... look back.... Don't... forget about... me... or... us..." she managed to say as her words started to fail her.

"Thank... you... Akeno..."

Sistines eyes closed as her grip failed, her hand fell away from Akeno's face flopping down by her side. A long flat tone echoed around the silent sickbay as the readings on Captain Sisitine Fibel fell to zero. Her chest ceased rising and lowering as her breathing stopped and the remainder of the warmth began to fade from her skin.

Akeno gently placed Sistine's hand and arm by her side. She had gone, she had finally passed peacefully, her hell was over, she no longer had to fear what had to come. Silent tears ran down Akeno's face as she looked up at the doctor.

The doctor breathed heavily watching Sistine passing. He then turned towards the Captain an tried to widen a smile in his face "she stopped suffering" he said.

The Captain nodded. "Thanks for all your help doctor" she sniffed. "I'll inform the crew. Have Sistine's body stored in the morgue, we'll give her a proper send off. She deserves as much"

Mark nodded "I'll take care of that".

With that said, Akeno wiped her face with her sleeve before slowly making her way over to the door of the sickbay. She had to do the part of her job she hated the most now.

Posting by

Captain Akeno Misaki
Commanding Officer
USS Wayfarer

Lieutenant Mark Johnson
Chief Medical Officer
USS Wayfarer

Captain Sistine Fibel
Commanding Officer
USS Arista & Arista Colony