The Doctor Is In - Part II

Posted on Fri Mar 6th, 2026 @ 5:35am by Lieutenant Katya Davi & Lieutenant Commander Zuub & Lieutenant Amy Gordon

1,489 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Avan's Colony
Location: Adelaide Cargo Bay Annex

[PREVIOUSLY]

She paused again, looking at Amy. "All the miners were dead. Then lava began to enter the chamber, so we left. When we got back to the maintenance center, everyone was gone and we called you. We put our suits on in the center and took them off there as well. We only had minimal contact with her." And now Zinna was stuck in the transporter buffer.

[CONTINUED]

"And I can support what Kat has said. We do have recordings as to what we saw. Took readings and recordings. Then we ran. We had to get out of there or we would have died." Amy wasn't certain if she wanted to talk about the lava monster she had seen, coming for them.

"All dead? What from? Did you do any tricorder readings? Yes, you said you did. When did you do them? Did you interpret them? What caused you to put on your suits? Where did you find Zinna?" Zuub looked over at Zinna and her antennae started to writhe before returning to a twittering state.

"Yes, I have tricorder readings. We found Zinna where the other car crashed. It was at a bend in the tracks before they got to the mine. The others with her were dead." Kat paused and closed her eyes for a moment before continuing. "The miners were wearing environmental suits. It looked like they'd been cooked to death in their suits. I can send my readings to your PADD." It would be easier than telling the doctor or handing over her tricorder.

"Plus, it had been advised to wear the suits before we went, the atmosphere out there isn't the best especially going to where the miners were at. There the suits were needed." Amy contributed.

"Here's my own information as well." Amy sending the readings to Zuub.

"The people out there if you send us they won't be diplomatic. They were heading towards us being rather ticked off before the transporter beamed us in. Now here we are, really wanting to get a shower, some food." The adrenaline that had fended off the pain was wearing off and she winced. The pain of the welts on her hands was making itself known. Stupid rope burn.

"Being cooked in a suit sounds like a rather unpleasant condition. It would be detrimental to any reasonable play," Zuub answered simply. "When you say that you said it looked like they were being cooked, I assume that you did not see flames or anything inside the suit. You just saw burns or welts or such, right?" Zuub's antennae leaned in towards the PADD as she reviewed all of the findings.

"They were cooked, the scent of cooked human flesh isn't a scent you ever forget." Amy shuddered.

She'd experienced that before.

"And they were being burned and were burnt with most of them being eaten by the lava that was taking over the area. With how the ground was quaking and shaking, we had to hurry and get out of there. We were lucky to get out of there!" Amy's breathing was becoming a bit rapid, as she recounted a little bit of what happened.

"They weren't burned by the lava," Kat corrected. "Not at first. We think it was the heat and humidity. The lava came after they were dead. We had to cut our investigation short and make a quick exit once it did. We left Zinna on the cart when we went in as she was stable and we wanted to see if anyone else needed rescuing. When we ran back to the cart, she hadn't moved and she was still alive, so we made a hasty return. When we got back to the maintenance area, no one was there, so Amy contacted you. We don't know anything else. I plan to go over the data we did get to see what I can learn. I can send you that as well, if you want."

Giving a nod as to the correction Katya had provided. Amy felt the heavy weight of weariness descend upon her, more heavily. It was a difficult journey she and Katya went on. One survivor, maybe? She swayed slightly, still standing barely, but didn't know just how long she was going to be able to be upright. Adrenaline crashes can be rather overwhelming, she could feel her knees start to tremble, maybe getting ready to buckle.

Tears were beginning to form in her eyes, Amy looked beseechingly towards Zuub. "D-doctor can we do this somewhere --" Bam Amy's knees gave out, and she dropped to the floor.

Kat felt Amy begin to pass out just before she did, but it wasn't in time to get to her first. Since they'd both been exposed to whatever virus was on the planet, she went quickly over to Amy to make sure she hadn't injured herself when she fell, then rolled her on her back and found something to put under her feet.

"I think it's an adrenaline crash," Kat told Zuub. "I don't have a medical tricorder to verify it, though."

Zuub continued to scan with her tricorder. "It may be more than that," the doctor informed them. However, she soon heard the call for the briefing. "I will inform the Captain that you will not be attending the briefing. I am going to run this data through the computer while I am there. I have an odd feeling this may be related to what my away team found, though I have no basis for that yet."

The doctor thought further, her antennae wobbling unsteadily. "Dying first of the heat and humidity, you say.... Again, that sounds suspicious, but I believe that there was a volcano on your Earth called Vesuvius that killed people in Pompeii and Herculaneum and other towns before the lava reached them, too. I will continue to research the issue. I wish I had a baseline, though, for this Zinna."

"There should be something in the colony's medical records," Kat said. "I don't know what her job was, but she should be in the computer. I don't know if there would be any records on the planet about the lava. All I know is the miners called for help and Zinna was one of those who went to help."

"Not meaning to harp on the subject, but what should we do since we're basically on quarantine? Sit here, or can we be confined to our quarters?" Kat really wanted a shower, too.

"Until I know more, you get to sit here. I have no desire to risk a move which could risk this spreading with a computer malfunction or something we do not yet understand." Zuub's antennae drooped. "I apologize for the inconvenience."

Kat nodded and sat down where she was. It wasn't ideal, but she was tired and discouraged. No bath. No bed. No food. No dancing. At least she had a PADD and tricorder with her so she wouldn't be too bored. She hoped. "Okay. Let us know when we can leave quarantine."

"Hopefully, I will have a solution soon," Zuub replied, her antennae limply hanging from her head and wobbling unsteadily when they did move. "I will be back."


===After Zuub leaves for the briefing===

A groan came from Amy, her eyes fluttering open, the tender ministrations from Katya helped to bring her around. She moved her head, looking for the water bottle wanting another drink, her throat parched.

Amy's voice came out a little gravelly, "Has anyone seen my water bottle?" she paused then queried, "Can we request room service? Maybe a cute man come bring us a cot? With a chocolate under a pillow?"

"Hold on..." Kat got up and went to one of the cargo bay controls and replicated two water bottles. She handed one to Amy, then drank all of hers and tossed the bottle in a container for recycling.

For a moment, she just looked around. "You know, I have an idea. We both need a shower, right? And if we're stuck here for a while..." She looked at Amy and raised an eyebrow. "The cargo bay has sprinklers. It wouldn't be hard to warm the water."

Having come to a seated position, sitting lotus position, Amy drank her water as well, she muffled a belch behind her hand. She smiled up at Kat.

"A warm shower? That sounds so heavenly, I would love one." Amy touching her hair which felt rather gritty, and somewhat tangled.

"The best I can do is replicate some shampoo and heat the water. I don't recommend we actually strip down because if I disable the cameras the doctor will probably come back to see what we're up to." Although she could distort the image a little...

(To be continued...)

Katarina Diaz
Mechanic and Communications
(Katya Davi)
SS Adelaide

Lieutenant Commander Zuub
Chief Medical Officer
SS Adelaide

Agatha Smith
(Amy Gordon)
SS Adelaide

 

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