Science Lab 1 – Deck 3 15:45

Kerry sat in one of the unassigned science labs on deck 3 reviewing her work at the computer console while it churned away at the final part of the encryption locking away the data that Kirin recovered. Locking in the final algorithm she thought would be needed she leaned back in the chair and slowly spun around and let out a long exhale. Bringing her hand up to her head she brushed her blond air out of her face and rubbed her temple, “What is with this headache, it is very hard to focus” she saids stifling a yawn. Standing up she stretches, raising her arms above her head and shaking her head trying to push the lethargy from her head. ‘These last few days, all I want to do is lay in bed…it is so comfy…’ she thinks to herself before pushing the pleasant thoughts aside. Looking back at the console she can see it will take a while yet for the computer to break the final set of encryption. “Coffee…yes coffee. That will help” she mutters to herself as she turns to walk out of the lab, ‘Coffee, didn’t I just talk to someone about that?’.

As the door slides open she walked right into Belania and fell backwards onto her ass from the surprise of it as she feels a bit of a disconnect from what just happened; her arms and chest were hotter and wetter than a moment before. Blinking she looks up at the Ferengi who was now covered in raktajino and was busy pulling her uniform jacket away from her chest, “Damn that is hot,” Belania cursed as she quickly stripped her jacket off leaving her in her white undershirt which also showed some dark brown stains. Without looking down Belania let out a coughing laugh, “Sorry Kerry, are you ok? I had brought you a raktajino but, well, unless you want to wring out my jacket I think we will need to go back to the mess.” she said before looking down, “Damn sorry didn’t realize the raktajino hit you as well. Are you ok? Did it soak through?” she asks as she extended a hand to help Kerry stand.

Kerry looked back up at Belania and blinked, “Yeah.., I’m…ok. Not it didn’t,” she said as she took the hand and stood up. “I…I was just going there, though a coffee would help with this headache and lack of energy.” 

Belania paused at that, “Kerry, I asked you just 5 minutes ago if you wanted one, that is what I was just doing. Are you feeling ok?”

Looking at her Kerry blinked rapidly, “oh, yeah. yeah. It’s just this headache. I must have forgotten, focused on work.”

“How about we swing by the medbay. You have mentioned a headache too many times over the last couple of days for conforming.”

“No…” Kerry says shaking her head “No. The EMH will just be mean; he really doesn’t like me. I should just lie down.” Kerry muttered. 

“Come on, let’s go; he is definitely unlike any EMH I know of but we should get you checked out. Besides your quarters are right beside there anyways. Just a quick scan then you can go lay down.” Belania countered and began to lead Kerry to the turbo lift.

Bridge – Deck 2: 15:50

Kirin sat in the briefing room just off the bridge reviewing reports from the team and the work they have been undertaking during the last two weeks since her return. Of particular interest was Kerry’s report about her time aboard the USS Dvorak and to a lesser degree a couple of comments on Belania’s report from when a couple of the crew of the USS Dvorak came aboard the USS Daradax to conduct a stock take. Resting her chin on her hand she continued to scroll through the reports and let out a little laugh, “It would appear that Captain Taes and her crew have had some interesting times together. Body switching, bet that led to some interesting stories…and she really took a liking to the doctor of theirs…” Reaching the bottom of the report she let out a low chuff and smiled before closing the console to leave the room. 

Rolling her shoulders and her neck she walked down the corridor towards the bridge but stopped just before rounding the corner onto the bridge as she heard her name mentioned and a conversation well underway. Leaning with her back to the wall she brushed her hair out of her face causing the red to turn to a deep green, almost black before it settled behind her ear a light reddish-green.

“…cannot just ask her. She is the captain and I TOLD you the full report is sealed AND she said she didn’t want to talk about it so we don’t.” Thanen said, his voice oddly tense with a sense of aggression underneath it.

The frustration in the other voice was very clear, “Argh, I didn’t say we should ask her. You are not listening. All I said was she clearly went through something. Beyond being shot and we should make it clear she can and should talk to us about how she is feeling. You are the XO and I am in charge of security. If something happened down there to jeopardize the ship or crew or HER then we need to know.” Ril said back followed by a clear sigh.

Shaking her head Kirin pushed off the wall and walked around the corner to see Ril glaring at Thanen from the tactical console, her hand rubbing her forehead with her right index finger and middle finger as a deep look of frustration and anger flashed across her face. Thanen was leaning back in the command chair meeting Ril’s gaze. “She will do what she wants and we are…” he began to respond before seeing Kirin walk onto the bridge. Jumping up out of the chair he smiles as he looked at her.

“Cap, oh, sorry Kirin. I know you do no…” Thanen starts to say before glancing at Ril with more aggression than Kirin had seen on his face before. 

Looking at him Kirin cannot help but feel that something isn’t right. “I will stop you there Thanen,” she says holding up her hand to him to stop him from responding before turning to Ril. “What are you to going on about? Ril, are you ok? You look like your head is bothering you?” Kirin demands before turning back to Thanen “And Thanen what si with this aggression from you?”

Both Ril and Thanen begin to speak before stopping gesturing to them to be quiet. “Ril, you first”

Ril stopped rubbing her forehead and sat back in her chair. “I am not sure what the…” she starts before rubbing her temple again, “…issue is. It is nothing we haven’t spoken about. You haven’t really told us what happened down on Kunhri III and I need to know if it will put the ship or crew at risk. It is part of my job to know these things as Head of Security.” Stifling a yawn she closes her eyes tightly as a pained expression crosses her face. “You have told us it’s classified and there isn’t a risk and I believe that but you have almost locked yourself away since you returned and not been yourself. You shouldn’t, we are here when you ended us.”

Before Kirin could respond Thanen barked at Ril, “YOU DO NOT PUSH HER ENSIGN! LEARN YOUR PLACE.” Spinning on Thanen, Ril looked like she was ready to ripe his head off. “YOU ARE LUCK KIRIN IS HERE, I’D RIPE YOUR HEAD OFF OTHERWISE!” Ril shouted back as she jumped to her feet causing her eyes to go wide as she wobbled before she grabbed the edge of the console to balance her.

“SIT BACK DOWN BOTH OF YOU!” Kirin ordered causing Thanen to sit instantly and Ril to slump into her chair. “Ril. You do not look well. Go to medical, get the EMH to check you over and STAY THERE. I will be there shortly.” With a nod Ril stood up, her eyes focusing and unfocusing before she stabilized herself and walked off the bridge. Turning back to Thanen who sat in the command chair watching Kirin with a happy smile nodded. “Good, she obviously isn’t well Kirin.”

‘What the hell is going on with them…’ Kirin thought to herself before a thought entered her mind causing the pit of her stomach to drop, ‘the pheromones, my pheromones…I need to handle this quickly…if I can…’ Turning to Thanen she steps up so she is staring down at him in the chair. “No, it isn’t Kirin, in this instant, it is Captain! You do not speak to our crew in such a way. Now stand up, we are going to medical to get you to check out as well…All of us checked out.”

“Ok, happy to Kirin, uh, Captain. All you have to do is ask,” he responds standing up. 

“Come on, let’s get going.”

Medbay – Deck 2: 16:00

Kirin walked down the corridor to medical with Thanen in front of her. ‘If these two are affected I am sure Kerry and Belania are as well.’ Tapping her combadge she called them “Tarken to Dawson and Belania; report to medical ASAP”. Thanen didn’t bat an eye or acknowledge the call which was definitely out of character for him. Kirin was still convinced he would make a better captain to this crew than she could. As they reached Medical a few seconds later her combadge chimed “Belania to Tarken, We are already here, I was…” Belania responded but stopped as the door slid open and Kirin lead Thanen in. Kirin was surprised to see Kerry already lying on the biobed with the EMH MkX standing over her running a scan. While Belania stood over Ril who lay on one of the beds with a medical tricorder. “That is not needed Bel, it’s just a headache” Ril was saying to Belania.

Walking in Kirin grabbed Thanen’s arm causing him to turn and smile at her. “Go sit over in the office and wait there,” she told him before walking up to stand beside the MkX and the biobed. “Doc, I do not think the suppressor is working. Is Kerry Ok?”

Without looking up from the console on the side of the biobed the MkX shook his head, “She will be fine. My question to you is What exactly is wrong with all of you?; I am pretty sure, no I am 100% sure as my memory is infallible that we had a briefing about all of you keeping an eye out for these issues.” Turing to face Kirin, be continued, “Yes, you may have forgotten but I stood here” disappearing and reappearing over by the office, “and all of you stood by the bed where Ril is” before appearing back by the biobed. “I TOLD EACH OF YOU TO LOOK OUT for these exact things; Damnit I am a doctor, not a babysitter. I cannot keep an eye on you when I am offline and I won’t just reactivate myself to babysit you all.”

With a sigh, Kirin turned to face him. “Doctor. We have been. I cannot comment about Kerry here but those two,” pointing towards Ril and Thanen, “were fine when I was with them an hour ago and I Kerry was fine as far as I know when I spoke to her several hours ago.”

“Oh, well that is even more interesting. My scans show that she has a large buildup of your pheromones in her system which is the likely cause of her headaches and lack of energy. That is very common for human females. Belania, please send the scan results here” he says while continuing to work on the console. “Interesting. Starfleet doesn’t have many records of the pheromone’s impact on female Klingons most just males and their pheromonal shock. Ril doesn’t seem to have that…wonder if it is due to her gender or her human half…very interesting.” Turning away he walks over to Ril, “How are you feeling. Mostly yourself but a growing headache right behind your eyes, yes?” to which Ril nodded keeping her eyes closed. “Mmh, ok. And you Belania how are you feeling?”

Belania put down the tricorder, “Perfectly fine, could Kirin’s pheromones not impact me the same way?”

“Possibly.” the EMH said offhand while he continued to scan Ril. “Best for them to go rest; Belania can you help them back to their quarters then return. I will need to pull together a hypo which should purge their system of the pheromones though they will wish they had been drinking all night for a hangover would feel like bliss tomorrow morning for them.”

Kirin stood there listening to the EMH do his thing and had a growing unease in her stomach as if she was going to be sick. ‘I caused all this, my stupid pheromones, they have been nothing but a curse…not matter what my grandmother says…how is any of this good or useful…why did I have to be born with it. Wish I was like most Orions…part Orions…’ she thought before realizing that the EMH was talking to her. “…no way of knowing. A real surprise, I must say.”

“Sorry, what was that?” Kirin responded. The EMH turned back and looked at her with an annoyed expression from the biobed where he had directed Thanen to lay down. ‘When did Thanen get on the biobed?’  

“I WAS saying that the suppressor was working in so much that it suppressed the active component of the pheromones you are giving off but not the other parts. This allowed those to build up in everyone’s systems until the active ingredient was introduced. It would appear that your body has adapted so that the suppressor has been losing effect as well so when it stopped working today everyone reached levels of exposure they would expect to be at after several days. We had no way of knowing. Your body seems to want to produce those pheromones of yours and they seem to be very potent, more so than others produced by Orion women according to the database.”

“Oh,” Kirin said as her frustration at herself grew, “So what am I meant to do now if the suppressors are now useless?”  

“Well” the EMH began to say as he looked at the console on the biobed, “Oh, you did a number of Thanen; got him all twisted up, him being the only male on board, excluding me but I am obviously immune…” before walking over to the hypospray dispenser tapping a button and picking on up and turning back to Thanen injecting him in the neck, “Well, until we can get a new implant for you I was thinking of confining you to your quarters.” 

“WHAT?! You have to be kidding?” Kirin said a bit shocked ‘He is likely right, isolate airflow and such.’

“It is in my right as the medical head on the ship, flesh and blood or not but I do not have another alternative right now. The crew needs to clear their systems, without that Ensign Mnass and Dawson’s symptoms will worsen and Thanen will become more aggress to anyone he perceives as a challenge unless it is you. Not an ideal situation for a ship trying to render aid I would think. Give me 24 hours and I should be able to design a new suppressor and I can liaise with the other ships in the system. They have more advanced systems and may be able to make a temporary implant until we reach a starbase.” the EMH remarked. 

“Ok, fine. I see your logic. I will confine myself and hand over command to Thanen; I will enter this into my log.” Kirin said ‘and again, the ship is no longer mine..’  a growing sense of defeat came over her.  “I will go there now.” 

Turning she walks out of the room almost running into Belania. Nodding to her Belania continued into the medbay; “Are the hyposprays…” Belania began to say to the EMH before her voice was cut off as the door closed.

Walking into her quarters she went straight to her bedroom and sat down feeling defeated. “Computer, look doors to my quarters and isolate environmental systems for these quarters”. With that, she laid down and stared at the ceiling.