“Chief Medical Officers’ Log: Stardate: 79647.9

It’s been three days since Ensign Munroe succumbed to an unexplained and acute Illness. Post-mortem revealed the cause of death was exsanguination from a significant internal haemorrhage. Identical to what I observed in one of the Azurak crew members.

My first instinct is that this is some sort of pathogen, though all detailed scans and pathology tests have revealed no such contagion, yet the symptoms of a disease are all present. It’s like nature has found a way to hide a bacterium or virus from our tests.

While I’m just a physician, I am beginning to suspect that this Azurak Heg’jot is connected in some way.

In the past three days, I have begun to observe an increase in some crewmembers attending sickbay for flu-like symptoms. Some of these cases are clearly psychosematic, likely being a touch of paranoia following rumour and speculation around the ship.

However, two cases have me feeling troubled. These two crew members have begun to present with symptoms I would say are consistent with the early stages of hemorrhagic fever: Fatigue, respiratory inflammation, and a high temperature consistent with an infection response.

The only correlating factors between them are that they are both human and have spent time in proximity to Ensign Munroe or the Hej’ogt. Both officers are currently in Isolation while tests continue to try and identify the source of the infection.”

Isolation Ward

The thought at the forefront of Conrad’s mind as he pressurised his Haz-mat suit was that his protection would only be as secure as the weakest link in the chain of protective measures being employed. These were only precautionary measures at this stage; however, he strongly believed they were necessary to protect the rest of the crew.

Every fibre of his being was telling him this was an outbreak of something communicable, but without the evidence to back up a contagion at this stage, a complete lockdown and quarantine may be premature.

He checked every seal on his suit three times, ensuring complete integrity before he even considered entering the airlock into the isolation chamber. As he traversed the threshold, he got a pit in his stomach about leaving the relative safety of the outside and willingly entering a hostile environment. If it were a pathogen that he could not detect, then there was no guarantee that any of his protective equipment could stop the transmission of the disease. There were so many unknowns; he needed more data.

“Should I start the decontamination process, Doctor?” Asked Sovek, who had volunteered his expertise to assist Conrad in making his analysis.

Conrad nodded in agreement, and the Vulcan keyed in the command into the door panel. Jets of vapour bombarded their suits with disinfectants and anti-viral solutions, and ultraviolet lamps provided an additional sterilisation measure to ensure they were free from contamination.

Entering the sterile isolation chamber was just as important as exiting in the same state. They could not afford to introduce any other variables into the room. Not when the validity of their tests required the utmost care.

Both men entered the room, having been prompted by the computer signalling that they were sterile. Conrad immediately approached his first patient, drawing an ampule of blood for analysis. Sovek did the same, working with an efficiency and accuracy that could have fooled an observer into thinking they were seeing a mirror reflection of the Doctor.

Both patients were presently sleeping, conserving their strength for the fight ahead.

“Their vitals are a little weaker today. I think whatever this is, it’s progressing rapidly. Incubation can only have been a few days, considering when we first encountered the Azurak,” Conrad stated, taking a moment to observe the readouts from the Bio Monitors.

“We should proceed with haste then, Doctor,” Sovek responded, making his way over to a piece of apparatus on his side of the room. “Initiating Metaphasic analysis.”

Conrad performed a separate test on an apparatus identical to Sovek’s; his reasoning behind it was commensurate with the scientific method, ensuring repeatability of results.

As the apparatus performed its work, the intercom chirped into life, “Any updates on your theory, Doctor?” The Captain’s voice echoed through the room.

“Just beginning the Metaphasic analysis now, Captain. If Sovek is right…which, annoyingly, he usually is, we should know for certain if there are any foreign bodies in the patient’s blood which would indicate a pathogen, even if they are somehow cloaked.”

“Is that not a bit of a far-fetched hypothesis?” Commander Jones’s voice echoed.

“Doctor Harper has performed an extensive examination of the patients up until this point, Commander. His methods were exhaustive, yet he was unable to ascertain the cause of the patient’s illness.” Sovek weighed in.

“And given that all the symptoms point to some sort of infection, I’m confident we may be dealing with a life-form we have never encountered before, A perfect pathogen with the ability to avoid detection at the atomic scale.” Conrad Added.

“If you eliminate all logical solutions to a problem, the remaining solution, however improbable, must be correct,” quoted Sovek.

“Still… A virus that can turn invisible… it sounds like science fiction.” Alex said.

“Improbable, yes. But not an Impossibility. Some viruses are capable of significant adaptation to successfully infect a host. And, many forms of life can make alterations to their molecular structure to survive… It is, in theory, possible for such a life form to also exist at the microscopic scale.” Sovek explained as his display began to return the results.

“That being said, Metaphasic analysis has revealed no significant anomalies,” he added.

“Mine too, Ugh…I thought we were onto something!” Conrad growled in frustration. He stood away from the console, folded his arms and paced in thought for a few moments. The answer was there; he just needed to approach it from a different angle.

“You up for a little differential diagnosis, Sovek?” Conrad quipped.

“I do not believe I am qualified to—”
“Never mind that… Quickly, in basic terms, think of all the ways an object can be obscured from detection!” Conrad asked.

“Starting with the obvious, Cloaking technology… But generating a cloaking field on the microscopic scale would be only partially effective, and the energy requirements and computational power to accurately maintain that field would exceed anything that could be contained on such a scale,” theorised Sovek.

“Okay, so a conventional cloak is out, what’s next?” Said Conrad

“Active camouflage, there are many examples in nature where organisms will mimic their environment to avoid detection.”

“Intriguing, but the metaphasic analysis would have detected that.”

“Quantum tunnelling might give the appearance of invisibility if the object were in a state of flux between ours and a parallel reality.” Sovek theorised again, “However, it is highly unlikely that this could be performed at the macroscopic scale with consistency, due to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.”

Conrad stopped for a moment, as if something Sovek had said prompted him to remember something.

“What if, Its not quantum tunnelling per se, but could a virus exist in a state of quantum flux?” Conrad proposed.

“In theory, yes. Starfleet has encountered many such beings and even entire planets that exist in quantum flux, phasing in and out of our perceivable reality. However, when phased, such phenomena are unable to affect or be affected by our reality.” Sovek paused for a second, raising an eyebrow to signify he was in deep thought.

“Curious…Synchronic distortion is a form of quantum flux that might fit our parameters, Doctor.”

“Synchronic distortion? Never heard of it!” Conrad replied

“It is a phenomenon that has only rarely been encountered; however, I believe the federation has encountered a race of beings that existed within a slight positive phase variance, rendering them imperceptible.” Sovek turned back to his console and began configuring a new scan. “I am narrowing the sensitivity of the phase discriminator…”

Conrad observed with enthusiasm, “Captain, standby, we may have something!”

Sovek initiated his scan and began making constant adjustments. “Point zero-zero one phase variance….Point zero-zero two…Point zero-zero three….Point zero-zero four.”

As the scan began to approach .004, the magnified display began to reveal anomalies present in the blood sample. They appeared as ghostly outlines at first, then slowly began to materialise, until they were as clear as day.

‘Anomalies detected’

The computer confirmed, signalling a breakthrough in their research. “You did it, Sovek! I swear I’ll never underestimate that Vulcan grey matter of your’s again!” Conrad said with delight.

“Report, Dr Harper!” Alex’s voice demanded over the intercom

“Captain! It’s confirmed. This is a virus, but it exists out of phase with normal space-time…. We need to activate quarantine protocols immediately until we can study it further!” Conrad recommended. He knew what he was asking, and he did not make the request lightly.

BRIDGE

Alex took on board the Doctor’s findings with solemn responsibility. What the doctor was recommending might end their hunt for the other Azurak ship, but ignoring it might risk a pandemic out of control. He knew there was no other option.

“Blue Alert! Helm, all stop!, Computer Activate quarantine protocols, authorisation Dubois-3-7-Uniform-Alpha!”

Almost instantaneously, the bridge lighting and the previously colourful LCARS displays switched to a deep blue and light grey, respectively. Signalling an abrupt change in alert status to the entire ship. The ambience felt sinister, with all the displays losing all colour; one could not help but immediately think the situation was serious and demanded attention.

“NOW HEAR THIS. CODE BLUE IS IN EFFECT. ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD IDENTIFIED. CODE BLUE IS IN EFFECT”

The voice of the computer echoed through the ship, grabbing the attention of every single member of the crew and followed by the boswain’s whistle

“All hands, this is the Captain. To avoid the spread of rumour and panic, I am about to brief you as to the nature of our current situation. Doctor Harper has identified a pathogen present aboard this vessel. We believe it to be contained, but as a precaution and as per Starfleet protocol, I have activated a ship-wide quarantine until further notice. Your duties will remain unaffected, but I won’t lie to you, this is a potentially serious situation. Now more than ever, I need you to stay focused, more information as and when, Dubois out!”

“Lieutenant Sato, maintain station keeping and broadcast our position and a sit-rep to Starfleet Command. Emphasise, we are in quarantine.” Wallace ordered, sharing the workload with his commanding officer, who was busy typing away at his chair console, making the necessary arrangements.

“Sir, there’s one other thing,” Conrad’s voice echoed.

“Go ahead, Doctor,” Alex responded as he continued typing away.

“You might not know this, but when Fairfax was refitted for the fleet auxiliary part of the upgrade allows Deck Six to be hermetically sealed in situations such as this. I recommend we proceed with that, sir!”

“Acknowledged, Doctor, do what you have to keep this contained! You have my full support, anything you need!” Alex responded confidently.

ISOLATION WARD

“Thank you, Captain, that means that Deck Six will be restricted to medical emergencies and medical personnel only. Access can only be gained by site-to-site transport.” Conrad explained, unsure if the Captain fully understood what he was proposing.

He knew from when he took over as the Chief Medical Officer that the engineers who designed the refit had intended the ship to serve as a mobile hospital for the fleet auxiliary. Amongst the other medical facilities not normally standard for a federation ship of the line, the engineers had retrofitted the entire hospital deck to be self-contained in the event of a major incident.

“Understood, Doctor, whatever you think is necessary, Bridge out!”

“Computer, activate deck six lockdown, biological contagion, authorisation Harper-9-2-Theta!”

“Authorisation acknowledged. Re-routing Turbo-lifts. Emergency containment fields are now activated. Negative pressure containment systems are now activated. Define parameters for Decontamination,” The computer voice chirped.

“Restrict Access, Medical authorisation only!”

The computer chirped again, acknowledging the parameters.

“Let’s get to work trying to find out what makes this thing tick, Sovek!” Conrad exclaimed as he started reviewing the scans.