Wakey, wakey eggs and bakey

Posted on Thu Aug 11th, 2022 @ 4:24am by Lieutenant Sovas Nyseth & Chief Petty Officer Noah Reed

Mission: In-Between (S1:E2-S1:E3)
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Mission Day 23 at 0930
1193 words - 2.4 OF Standard Post Measure

Doctor Noah Reed was in his office reading the latest biology report he'd written about the Ocampa. Physiologically, they were very similar to humans but their metabolisms were many magnitudes faster. He had searched the database and couldn't find the Empire having encountered a race of sentient mammals that aged so rapidly. It was as if the universe didn't intend for the Ocampa species to be around much, galactic timewise. Just then he heard the repeating notification signal beeping from around the corner in the ICU bay. He rose out of his chair and made his way to the bedside of Lieutenant Nyseth. The man had been in a coma for nearly a month running now. He wasn't brain dead. Quite the contrary, Reed expected him to recover at some point. That 'point' in time being the only unknown factor. He tapped the nearby display, pulling up the man's brainwave activity. Multiple lines streamed from right to left in squiggly patterns that slowly became even more erratic.

Lying on the table, Sovas gave little outward indications of his comatose body's crawl back to the conscious world as he was still caught in the disjointed memories of his childhood. The torturous excursions into the wilderness with his father, being forced to fight for his survival and prove to his sire that he was worthy of living and that the best part of his humanity hadn't leaked down his mother's backside. Even as he relived his memories, the halfbreed could feel an alien presence lingering in his mind, watching him for some unknown purpose but it wore his father's face. The readouts were spiking higher and higher, his heartrate climbing as his body and face twitched as he seemed to be fighting himself.

The biobed monitors suddenly flatlined as Sovas roared and dragged Noah to the ground, pinning the other man there with painful grip around his throat. Spittle was covering the half vulcan's lips as adrenaline rushed through his body, flight or fight holding sway as he finally looked around and then at the man beneath him as obvious confusion painted itself onto his features. "Where...why am I in sickbay? Who are you? Was I brought here from the wilderness on Earth after the cougar attack?"

He pulled his hand away from Noah's throat as he pulled the surgical gown from his body as he examined the old scars there. No longer fresh wounds as he remembered them being. His frown deepened as he tried to make sense of everything and he felt his body slumping a little, his hands trembling as nothing seemed to make sense to him and he swore that he could still feel that alien presence within his mind.

Despite all the medical training he had received and the career experiences he had, it took every ounce of willpower for Noah Reed not to put his boxing background into practical use by giving a right hook to put startled man back under, the hard way, as opposed to a hypo. He rolled the man gently to his side and moved out from under him and then assisted him to his feet. “I’m Doctor Noah Reed, Chief Medical Officer of the I.S.S. Vengeance. You were brought aboard around the same time I reported aboard. You’ve been unconscious for over a month.” He gestured for the man to sit on the bed and then glanced up at the lifesign readings. Increased adrenaline was expected, considering the situation.

"I see," Sovas frowned as he looked towards the floor and seemed to be trying to sort his own memories, it was vague with mental fog settling over everything like the fog of war on a battlefield. It was disconcerting to say the least as he looked up to the other man. "The last thing I remember was coming aboard, receiving our mission to stop an Alliance attack on one of our planets and the ship being attacked in the Badlands and passing out while experiencing intense pain that felt like someone had turned on an agonizer inside of my head.

"Then waking up here and assaulting you, for which I will accept whatever punishment you deem appropriate, Doctor." While his own pride railed at being punished he also knew that the doctor had to maintain discipline and could not be seen as weak amongst the rest of the crew.

Reed could feel the eyes of all the other medical staff fixated on the scene unfolding between them. After the initial rage subsided, he let out a deep breath as his own eyes glanced around briefly just to see how many were actually watching. He reached out a hand to help the other man up off the ground and then smoothed out his tunic vest. “That won’t be necessary, lieutenant. Clearly you were simply reacting to consciousness, which can be startling for coma patients.”

He gestured for the man to sit back on the biobed before pulling out a medical tricorder and flipping it open to conduct further scans of the man. “I still don’t have an explanation for your time asleep except that it might have something to do with the aliens we encountered when we arrived, though that’s just a speculation at this point.”

Sovas nodded as he made himself comfortable on the bed, attempting to piece together everything that had happened and why he had fallen into a coma. "Aliens? What do you mean? Why do you believe they have caused my condition?"

"To put it simply, the ship has been flung to the delta quadrant. We've encountered a humanoid race known as the Ocampa. They're... troublesome, to say the least. The captain has made restitution through various means. However, we haven't found a way back to the Empire yet, I'm afraid." The tricorder made various standard beeping noises as it processed the sensory information but nothing high pitched, which would indicate an issue. "It looks like you're alright, aside from an understandable bout of elevated heartrate."

"I see, let me know if any assistance is needed in purging them." The half Vulcan closed his eyes as he felt his mind racing, his thoughts never really settling long like he was sifted through files on a computer while searching for something specific. Though he somehow knew it wasn't him that was looking. "Is it normal that my my mind is racing? Just after waking up from a coma."

This was the doctor's field of expertise but it didn't [i]feel[/i] normal at he let out a slow breath and looked down at his hands, flexing them as if trying to assure himself that he was awake and he was himself.

It seemed to remain a routine exam for the hybrid with the doctor examining him while explaining that there was elevated neurological activity but it didn't appear dangerous or harmful. There seemed to be other indicators of elevate neurochemical production but again it didn't appear to be dangerous and so it was that Sovas was given a clean bill of health, clearing him to return to duty when he was ready.