The Aftermath of Wolf 359

Chapter 6

"Commander, I'm detecting multiple life signs in here." Geordi said through his EV suit.

Shelby rushed over to him, "I'm detecting them too." She said after looking at her tricorder. "It looks like the air in there is barely breathable, we should keep our EV suits on."

"That's the plasma exhaust crawl space." The Geordie said, "The area is the most heavily shielded part of the ship, but radiation levels are dangerously high inside, as that area is very close to a plasma exhaust vent. Our suits will protect us, but anyone alive in there won't be in good shape. I can't even make out how many live signs through the interference." Geordie said.

"Can we beam them out?" Shelby asked.

"Not from here." He replied. "We should be able to get a transporter lock if we can get transport enhancers in there." Geordie answered.

"Then how do we get in without risking depressurizing the room?" Shelby asked.

"We can have them beam us the equipment to set up a containment field on this side, and pressurize it." Geordie answered.

"Do it." Shelby replied.

Worf headed over to them as Geordie set up the force fields, and had the Enterprise beam air in to pressurize the area.

Once they pressurized the area, they tried to open the door but it was sealed and had no power. They tried the emergency release, and it cracked the door a bit. Worf pulled one side of the door open and Shelby and Geordie pulled the other. When they finally got the door open, they saw two Vulcans in Starfleet uniforms pointing phasers at them, one was a Lt. Commander in blue, pointing a hand phaser at them, and the other was an ensign in a gold uniform, closer to the door, pointing a phaser rifle. Another 40 or 50 people were lying on the floor unconscious or too weak to move, half in Starfleet uniforms, half civilians, and several children.

"We're here to help." Shelby said, "I'm Commander Shelby of the Enterprise, and this is Lt. Laforge, and Lt. Worf."

The Vulcans both put down their phasers, and one went back to bringing an oxygen mask around, giving everyone a few breaths on it.

"Do you have an emergency supply of triox or hydronoline?" The Vulcan in blue asked, "We're out, and these people are dying."

"I can do better." Geordi replied, "Let's beam these people to a functional sickbay."

"That would be preferable." The Vulcan replied. Geordie handed both of the transport enhancers.

Shelby called the Enterprise to warn them to prepare medical to treat mass hypoxia and radiation poisoning. When all 4 transport enhancers were set up she called the Enterprise to energize transport, whether or not sickbay was ready. Getting these people somewhere with a functional life support system would be a huge improvement.

Once they materialized on the sickbay floor, with the only the away team in EV suites and the two Vulcans standing, much of the staff came rushing over to them. "I'm Dr. Sotrel of the Bellerophon." The Vulcan in blue said after metalizing in the Enterprise sickbay. "That's Lt. Commander Yontu, our chief engineer," he said pointing at one of the unconscious people, "and that's Ensign T'Vok."

"Welcome." Selar said. "Do you know the most critical cases among your group?"

"Ensign Volray, Ensign Tyler, Lt. Simons, and the children." He answered, pointing to two human men and a Bajoran woman. "Lt. Simions and Ensign Tyler lost a lot of blood, making them more sensitive to hypxia and radiation poisoning. Volray was exposed to a toxic atmosphere and numerous untreated infections as a child that left pulmonary scarring which made her more susceptible to hypoxia. I started her trioxen earlier and gave her a higher doses before it ran out, and I've been giving them more frequent and longer turns with the oxygen mask. I've been giving Simions and Tyler 2ccs cordrizine every 3 hours. The children's less developed respiratory systems made them more vulnerable as well."