“Ma’am, if you just follow the officer in front of you, I promise you will be taken care just as soon as we can gather enough people for the transporter, we don’t want to waste any room.” Commander Sera was quarterbacking the evacuation of Federation colonists on Meronia IV. Most folks were happily compliant with the immediate evacuation order, while others were being entitled pricks. “I don’t understand why we can’t just be moved to another place on the planet!” One of the colonists shouted as they hustled by the commander.

Shaking her head while looking back down at the PADD, the Andorian officer relayed another command to the Devastator that they were almost ready for another mass transport. Nearby, the Dev’s new chief engineer was diligently making modifications to a pattern enhancer. “She’s got a point.” Wellington said just loud enough so Commander Sera could hear.

Her antennae curled as she looked up from the PADD. “We’re not here to reason with these people, commander. We’re just here to carry out our orders and make sure everyone stays safe.” Placing the device under her arm, she turned to the engineer. “I assume you’ve never encountered this directive before?” She asked.

Wellington replaced the cover on the shaft of the enhancer and wiped his hands on his knees before standing up to face the first officer. “No, can’t say that I have. Seems awfully fishy to me.” He said. “To move all these people without giving them so much as a timeline for their return seems a little against protocol to me.” Wellington continued. He could sense that the commander was going to have a sassy response so he decided to break the tension with a question. “Have you encountered this before?” He asked.

Sera winced, “Not exactly. I still don’t know all the details, but I have heard rumors from some buddies of mine who’ve made it to command. From what I understand, we are doing these people a favor. They don’t want to be anywhere near here if we’re encountering whatever it is we’re encountering.”

Before they could continue the conversation, there was some gasping and shouting coming from just beyond the end of the line. It seemed that a colonist had collapsed. Sera and Wellington were motioned over by medical personnel at the scene. The collapsed colonist was alive, but severely injured. “Doctor?” Commander Sera asked.

Scanning the colonist with a medial tricorder, the doctor looked astonished. “It doesn’t make any sense, commander. This colonist is suffering from a severe form of radiation poisoning – subspace radiation.” Sera stood up and instinctively backed away from the colonist and doctor. Tapping her commbadge, she spoke, “Sera to Devastator. We’re going to need a few more medical teams and a few science officers right away.”