The Still Point of the Turning World, Part 2

Posted on Thu Oct 30th, 2025 @ 6:22pm by Ensign Iozhara & Lieutenant Alexandra Blackstone & Lieutenant JG Jezra Siv MD & Lieutenant JG Malcolm Beckett M.D. & Ensign Charlotte Dawes

1,416 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Peril at the Unification Accords
Location: Sickbay, Deck 12
Timeline: MD 08, 1755 (Follows "Medical Emergency")

"What do we need?" The doctor asked humbly while they waited for the second nurse to arrive.

"I need to restrain her extremities, doctor," Iozhara explained, moving to Alex's arms which were now dancing and falling, as though little jolts of electricity were coursing through them. "Please take over for me on the neural stimulator. We need to ensure it pulses at a rate of two bursts per second."

She stepped carefully around Malcolm and grasped Blackstone's wrists. "Alex," she murmured, crossing the patient's arms over her stomach. "You're not alone. Stay with us."

This was bad. Alex was starting to creep into the same territory T'Varel was only a moment ago. If it was anything like the prior experience, cardiac arrest was imminent. They were simply out of time. "Computer," Jezra said, pausing for a brief second to make sure they didn't miss anything. This was a last-ditch effort, and it was not a decision made lightly. It was dangerous and invasive, but death was becoming an increasingly likely outcome. "Enable thiopental infusion for biobed two, authorisation Siv one one six Gamma."

For a moment, Iozhara froze, her fingers still on the neural stimulator. She knew what thiopental was intended for--and what Jezra had in mind. They were about to take Alex down, pull her mind out of the storm by force.

Charlotte bounded into the surgical suite somewhere between a jog and a walk, her blonde hair pulled back tightly, ready to work.

"Where do you need me?" She asked, her voice low and serious.

"Authorisation approved. Thiopental request logged per medical regulation 36. Manual configuration required at biobed two. Rapid-deploy thiopental bolus materialising in replicator one. Please specify dose."

"Monitor vitals," Jezra told Charlotte, before addressing the computer. "Four milligrams per kilogram. Reference the weight metrics recorded by biobed two." Once the computer confirmed, Jezra turned their attention to the biobed, configuring the system to administer the infusion. The command would have automatically set up the biobed to do infusions, but the dosage parameter had to be set manually.

Charlotte marched deftly into place, noting that there were already a lot of hands in the surgical suite, normally designed for one patient, but now held two. Well, at least the space was now taken up by the biobed and abandoned body of the Ambassador, lifeless, but still warm.

Iozhara glanced over at the nurse and then back to Jezra. She didn't realize it, but she was holding her breath, her hands also hovering over the stimulator as the infusion process began. The seconds stretched long, almost unbearably, each one just a hopeful tick toward keeping Alex from suffering the same fate as T'Varel. Then, after almost a full forty seconds, Iozhara noted the change in her readout: the resonance was now slowing. It was not stopping, but the rate at which it had been progressing seemed to taper.

The computer alerted that the rapid-deploy hypospray was ready in the medical replicator. The rapid-deploy would help Alex go under faster, allowing the infusion to fully work. For now, the infusion held Alex back from the precipice, keeping her from getting closer to a neural surge. Jezra was tense, gripping the sides of the clamshell like her life depended on it. Like Alex's life depended on it. The change in resonance was good, but not good enough. "Iozhara, can you grab the hypospray from replicator one," they asked, eyes unwavering from the monitors.

Without even thinking, Iozhara's muscle memory kicked-in, and she snatched the hypospray from the replicator behind her. She verified the dose and the contents for a short moment before leaning forward to inject.

Jezra saw Iozhara return with the hypospray out of the corner of her eye and grabbed her arm before she could administer. "I will do it," Jezra said, her voice strained. It was her call, and she refused to burden someone else with the weight of it. That determination, mixed with a hint of regret and frustration, glistened in the doctor's eyes and could be heard in her words. "Please."

Iozhara felt a pang of annoyance at Jezra's insistence, but it quickly became evident to her that the Trill doctor was protecting her from something. While the administration of thiopental was not in question, perhaps something deeper was in play. Something that Iozhara had missed.

When the hypospray was put into Jezra's hand, she looked at it for a half second before pressing it to Alex's neck. There was no guarantee this would work, and that thought made the hypospray feel heavier than it was. "I'm sorry," she whispered, thumbing the release. The hypospray gave a quiet hiss, and once it was done Jezra set it aside before starting the timer on the biobed. The rapid-deploy had to cycle through Alex's system first and neural activity had to get below 3 Hz before the auto-correction built into the infusion protocol could kick in.

They waited. Jezra's eyes were focused on the monitor. The tricorder in their hand, its purpose diminished to redundancy at this point, remained open but ignored. It took longer than preferred, but the resonance continued to slow until it was within tolerance. At the same time, Alex's neural activity crept down to about 1.8 hertz. It danced around, but consistently stayed below two and a half. Good, it worked. The vitals stabilised to a low, but not critical, level. As the neural activity calmed, so did the nervous response.

Malcolm's eyes narrowed as he studied the readings. He knew that breaking a mindmeld during death could have traumatic indications, but this was extreme. It would be a long while before they knew if something specific happened during the mind meld, or if perhaps the fall and the head injury compromised Dr. Blackstone's ability to process and extricate herself from the meld properly. A Vulcan physician would be better equipped to diagnose, as there was still much that the Vulcans seemed to prefer to keep a mystery from outsiders.

Lips pressed together, Jezra slowly released a breath through their nose. She wasn’t completely stable, but it was a start. It would buy her time. "Iozhara, Malcolm, first shift," Jezra ordered tightly, snapping the tricorder shut. Her hands threatened to tremble. It was apparent that she was holding back either irritation or frustration, but it wasn't aimed at any them. "Keep an eye on her, administer 5ccs synaptizine every two hours. Notify me if neural activity goes above 3.5 hertz. Charlotte, work with T'Para to start the autopsy on the Ambassador."

Charlotte nodded at the doctor's orders, discarding her gloves before she left the operating theater. Malcolm looked over to Iozhara kindly. "Let's get the doctor cleaned up a bit. I'll help you," he suggested. A drone had already appeared and was cleaning and sterilizing the floor around the area where T'Varel's bed and been.

Iozhara's hands hovered over Alex's shoulder for a moment before she finally let them rest there. Blackstone's skin was cool to the touch, almost as though her strength had been completely sapped to the point of being unable to hold its own warmth.

She glanced down at herself and realized she was still wearing her dress uniform--sans jacket. As the adrenaline began to subside, Iozhara began to assist Malcolm in wiping away some of the blood that had been matted into Alex's hair.

Confident that the situation was handled but by no means content with the outcome, Jezra had the computer transfer T'Varel's body to the morgue. She then retreated to the office, medical tricorder tight in hand. The door shut behind her, and a button press turned the windows opaque, isolating her from the thick air in the main room.

---

Lieutenant J.G. Jezra Siv
Chief Medical Officer
USS Astrea


Lieutenant Alexandra Blackstone
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Astrea


Lieutenant J.G. Malcolm Beckett
Medical Officer
USS Astrea


Ensign Iozhara
Nurse
USS Astrea


Ensign Charlotte Dawes
Nurse
USS Astrea

 

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