Tapping his desk with one hand and holding his other hand against his forehead. Kossaal tried to figure out what was happening. Since arriving at L‘Talia, the number of sick patients has doubled or even tripled. It was specific cases of sleeplessness, being overworked, unable to rest, and waking up from nightmares. He didn’t know what it was affecting them, where it suddenly came from but one thing he knew for sure, L’Talia had a connection to it.

“Doctor you need some sleep”

A voice came from his side as Kossaal looked up seeing his nurse standing there “I know, but it seems we might be dealing with a problem that affects our ship and then my sleep is but a small issue in the overall problem we try to contain.” Kossaal was speaking in riddles as that was the side effect of the sleeplessness on him.

Theetika narrowed her eyes a bit and held her PADD close to her. “The amount of people dealing with sleep problems is what you are referring to?” She made an educated guest as she was not blind to what was happening in the sickbay.

“Correct, I alerted the command staff to be here. They should be arriving any minute now” Kossaal’s head tilted sideways to look at the door seeing both Sazra and K’Nala walking into the sickbay. “As the humans would say, speak of the devil” He smiled softly and leaned back in his chair seeing the two entering the office “Captain, Lieutenant”

Both of them nodded to the doctor. “What is going on doctor? I am dealing with our away team being out of reach. So I hope this is urgent” Sazra spoke with her mind elsewhere.

“Oh, it is definitely urgent Captain” Kossaal took a deep breath. “Since we arrived at this location we have seen an increase in patients” He raised his hand seeing that K’Nala wanted to ask “The symptoms you might have already noticed at the bridge, sleep problems. Be it naps, be it resting, or just relaxing. It all backfires for some odd reason into a nightmare that is unexplainable”

The two looked at the doctor quietly as Sazra crossed her arms letting out a deep breath and nodding to that observation. “I have noticed it on the bridge. Yes, I have sent two people to take some time off from their duties as they fell sleepy”

Nodding to that “Over the last 12 hours since we are here, I got complaints of people being unable to sleep. Terror hunts their dreams” He tapped his finger on the desk. “The interesting part is that it is all related to past events. Life events” He looked at the two.

“Why is that interesting?” K’Nala was confused.

The nurse turned her head to K’Nala “Because nightmares are associated with despair, anxiety, disgust, or sadness. So basically, emotions, the mind makes images based on what you feel and project that. These dreams are vivid replies to past events, making them not per se defined as a nightmare but a recollection of memories.” Theetika explained.

“So why is it a problem if people would be having recollections of theirrr past or having nightmares?” K’Nala was not beating around the bush, but at the same time, she was interested in the topic.

Sazra stared at Kossaal who just looked back at her. “Because it is unlikely that a whole crew is affected with the same symptoms. We might be dealing with a serious medical issue at this point, and what do you think the cause is and what will fix it?”

“Partly true, yes it is strange that people are impacted by it simultaneously, and we might be dealing with a shipwide problem” Kossaal resumed. “But what is the cause or how to fix it? No answer there” He was blunt about it because it was the truth. “My main priority is the health of the crew. If we don’t fix this nightmare problem, you will look at a dysfunctional crew who are unable to operate their stations properly”

“It means” Theetika saw that K’Nala didn’t understand the situation fully “If these nightmares or terrors continue. Crew mental issues will become physical issues over time. They will develop fever, perhaps stress or anxiety. They would lose their focus at their station, and it would be very dangerous if, for example, a pilot would be unable to fly us out of a dangerous situation”

Giving a slow nod to the explanation. “So we arrre dealing with a situation that might renderrr ourrr ship to a stand still” K’Nala looked at Sazra who had already figured out the given situation and gave her a nod of confirmation. “So we need to figurrre out as quickly as possible what the cause is and stop it”

The room became quiet as everyone knew what had to be done but the question that lay on their minds was how part “I will start investigating the files on the patients. Maybe there is a correlation between them in a certain element. But I am certain about one thing, L’Talia is key in this whole ordeal. I just don’t know what the lock is” Kossaal was a bit annoyed unable to solve this puzzle.

“Time is of the essence in this case. I need to focus on the away team on that station, so please brief Lieutenant K’Nala on your progression. If it gets out of control I will meddle with this” Sazra felt that the situation was still contained but was worried at the same time that she didn’t know for how long it would be.

Theetika and Kossaal nodded as they saw Sazra and K’Nala leave the doctor’s office. “When does it become a dangerous doctor?” Theetika asked looking at the command team leaving the sickbay. “When are we in a dangerous situation?”

He leaned back in his chair. “It depends on the biological clock of every species on this ship. But average? I give it 48 hours max. After that, we will lose many people who cannot function the way they should. So as the Captain said, time is of the essence in this case” Kossaal nodded to his nurse who left the office. “Meaning I got less than 36 hours to fix this” He felt the pressure on his shoulders and started to type on his computer to begin his search.