Title: Star Trek-Infinity: V'gel [PG] (MISC)

Author: Charles Rando (trando@worldnet.att.net)

Series: MISC

Rating: [PG]

Part: NEW 2/2

Disclaimer: Paramount owns the characters in The Next Generation and Deep
Space Nine, and Peter David owns the Selelvian race (see his book, Strike
Zone). I'd like to think that the characters I've invented and the story
are mine. :-)

Summary: The crew of the Infinity encounter a radiation cloud around the
planet Trill in the near future, which has not only decimated the planet
but is affecting Lieutenant V'gel as well.

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CHAPTER FIVE

"As you can see, Captain, the radiation extends from Trill outwards to a
radius of approximately 10.3 light-years," reported chief engineer Neddek.

"10.3 light-years! Do you realize what a large area of space that is?"
exclaimed Witherell, and then realized the Vulcan probably did. "What could
have happened on Trill to cause this?"

"At this moment, we are unsure," replied Neddek. "We would have to journey
to Trill and investigate there before we can form a conclusion."

"10.3 light-years does seem like quite a great distance," said Williams,
"but you have to understand we set our sensors to detect this radiation
down to the smallest particle. There are areas inside the 10.3 light-year
radius that are clear of radiation, almost like oasis's. But we have
detected single particles of this radiation 10.3 light-years away."

"We have also determined that this radiation does not pose a major threat
to us, as long as we do not stay within it for over forty-eight hours. It
would be safe to travel to Trill, as long as we did so quickly," said
Neddek.

"Should there be any problem with using warp engines while inside this
radiation?" asked Witherell.

"I have brought the warp engines back up to 98% efficiency, so they should
not pose a problem. However, as the radiation cloud becomes thicker, it
will be necessary to use more power to get through it. We will be able to
safely maintain the same warp speed through the cloud, but our velocity
will actually decrease the closer we get to Trill," replied Neddek.

"All right," said Rando, "let's go for it. Dismissed."

Neddek and Williams quickly walked out of the conference room to assume
their positions on the bridge. Witherell stayed behind to exit with the
captain.

"What do you think we will find once we get there, sir?" Witherell asked.

"I'm not sure, Commander," answered Rando, "but I doubt very much it will
look anything like the Trill we're used to."

******************************************************

"He's completely healed?" asked Calabretta.

"Apparently," replied Doctor McDonald. "Lieutenant Krodel was the first
patient I checked on when I came out here. He had been suffering from a
mild case of Rigallian flu, and in about two weeks, it would have been
gone. It seems, however, the Mr. Krodel didn't want to wait that long."

"That's incredible!" exclaimed Calabretta.

"But that's not all," said McDonald. "Ensign Su had stopped in because of a
recurring sinus headache, but now it's gone. I didn't even administer any
painkillers to her. In fact, every crew member who came to sickbay with a
health problem is now completely healed. Everyone except for Lieutenant
V'gel, that is."

"What could cause this to happen?" asked Calabretta. "How could they all
heal themselves so quickly?"

"I tried to answer that question myself, Doctor," replied McDonald, "so I
accessed all of my medical records. My only conclusion is that their immune
systems were working much faster than normal, attacking any illness or
virus that invaded their bodies. It's like they were on overdrive."

"An immune system on overdrive?" repeated Calabretta. "Nanci, I think we
now have a cause for our problem with Marianne. Let's go check it out."

******************************************************

"We have entered the Trill system, Captain," reported Ensign Marit.
"Slowing to full impulse speed."

"Very good, Ensign. Can we get a visual on Trill yet?" Rando asked.

"Not yet, sir," replied Libby. "The radiation cloud is extremely thick
here. We will be able to get a visual once we assume orbit."

"And how long will that be, Ensign?"

"About three minutes, Captain," replied Libby.

"Keep me posted," ordered Rando.

The next couple minutes went by quietly and slowly, with every bridge
member waiting for the ship to arrive at Trill. There was a short release
of tension when Libby finally announced, "We've arrived, Captain."

"Onscreen," ordered Rando.

The viewscreen displayed a picture of the Trill planet which was, in fact,
very similar to the way it had existed eight years before.

"Are you detecting any lifeforms, Ensign?" Witherell asked.

"Only smaller lifeforms such as animals and plant life. I am not, however,
detecting any Trill lifesigns. It's as if they've all vanished," replied
Libby.

"What could happen to a planet that could wipe out all of its humanoid
lifeforms?" Kassal asked.

"I could only begin to guess, Counselor," replied Rando. "I could only
begin to guess."

CHAPTER SIX

Captain's Log: Day 12. A full investigation of the Trill homeworld from the
ship has revealed some interesting discoveries. Neddek and Williams now
believe the radiation encompassing the Trill homeworld is the result of a
bomb used against the Trill. They are not sure what the purpose of this
bomb was, but they believe it killed all the Trill on the planet. They have
no explanation as to why other lifeforms still exist on Trill, but
hopefully that will change. Tomorrow we will be beaming an away team to the
surface of Trill to examine the life that does exist there and determine
why it survived this bomb. I'm hoping that this is somehow connected to the
problem with Marianne, but at the same time, I'm not. If the destruction of
Trill is related to Marianne's sickness, that would mean I am responsible
for her condition because I didn't fight J.W., and if that's the case, then
I have no idea what to do.

Rando switched off the recording device and laid back in his chair. He
hadn't had much time to spend in his quarters during the day, but he had
forced himself to return to get some much needed sleep. Actually, Commander
Witherell had forced him to get some sleep, threatening to call Doctor
Calabretta his captain had refused. Witherell had then taken his own
advice, letting the Beta shift take over the bridge so that the senior
bridge crew would be ready for tomorrow's events.

The next thing Rando knew, a loud chirping sound echoed through his room,
announcing the presence of someone at the door. He had fallen asleep in the
chair without knowing it, but a quick look at his chronometer revealed that
he had only taken a twenty minute nap.

"Come in," he called, and the doors to his quarters slid open, revealing
Doctor Calabretta.

"Captain, I think I have it!" Calabretta exclaimed, and then stopped short.
"I'm sorry, Captain. Did I wake you?"

"Yes, but it's all right," replied Rando, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Now, what do you have?"

"I know why Marianne is rejecting her symbiant!"

Rando looked worried. "Please tell me that it has nothing to do with this
planet?"

"Unfortunately, Captain, it does," said Calabretta, a little more soberly.
"You see, a few hours ago I discovered that many of the crew members who
had stopped into sickbay with health problems had cured themselves in
literally a matter of minutes. Doctor McDonald speculated that the reason
for their quick recoveries was an overactive immune system, and on closer
inspection of some of my patients, I discovered she was correct. I then
examined the medical data I got from Marianne before I put her into stasis
and I discovered the same thing: her immune system was in overdrive. If she
had been unjoined, she would have found herself completely healthy, but her
immune system treated her symbiant as an invader, and it implemented what
it needed to destroy it. I immediately called Lieutenant Williams down to
sickbay and we discovered that all the immune systems on this ship went
into overdrive the instant we entered the radiation cloud, some ten
light-years from here!"

"Wait a minute, Doctor," said Rando, "are you telling me that the unknown
radiation we've encountered is responsible for Marianne's condition?"

"Yes sir. The instant Infinity entered the radiation cloud is the instant
that Marianne collapsed on the bridge. I was lucky enough to get her down
to sickbay and in stasis quickly enough that her immune system didn't
damage the symbiant greatly. Lieutenant Williams also told me that we
passed through an 'oasis' in the radiation cloud, a small hole where this
radiation wasn't present, a few minutes after we initially entered it. I
have a bad feeling that if we hadn't gone through that oasis, Marianne
would have died before I got her into the stasis field."

"My God," said Rando, "I understand it now. Imagine, Doctor, sometime in
the future, the Trill, for some reason, encounter another race and
hostilities break out. The other race, in order to quickly end the war and
save themselves, construct a bomb that emits unusual radiation, radiation
that actually helps heal the body! All of the joined Trill on the planet
are killed almost instantly as their bodies reject the symbiants. The other
Trill who are not joined succumb to radiation sickness which accompanies
all radiation and die shortly afterwards... but somehow the plants and
animals on Trill are unaffected by the radiation... or maybe they develop a
resistance to it. As a result, you have a planet with no highly evolved
lifeforms, and, once the radiation dissipates, an empty planet ready for
the taking!"

"But who would do something like that?" Calabretta asked. "All of the races
within striking distance of Trill are members of the Federation."

"A great deal can happen in eight years," replied Rando. "It could be..."

And suddenly the red alert siren pierced through the air.

CHAPTER SEVEN

"Rando to bridge. What's happening?" Rando asked as he and Calabretta
walked quickly out of his quarters.

"Captain, a Romulan ship has just decloaked in orbit around Trill," replied
the voice of Commander Witherell.

"Have we been detected?" Rando asked.

"No sir. We are still cloaked from their sensors."

"Very well. I'm on my way to the bridge. Rando out."

"Captain, I've got to get back to sickbay. If we have a battle with the
Romulans, we could take on some casualties. And even with immune systems
working harder than normal, I'd feel a lot better if I were in sickbay,"
said Calabretta.

"Let me know if you find anything else about Marianne," said Rando,
"especially a cure."

"Will do," said Calabretta, "but if you want my advice, the quickest cure
for Marianne would be to take us out of this radiation cloud. I know for a
fact that her immune system will calm down once we're out of here, because
it did that in the oasis."

"I'll consider that option, Doctor," replied Rando as he stepped onto the
turbolift. "And thank you for telling me the news."

"Any time, Captain," replied Calabretta, and the turbolift doors closed.

******************************************************

"Status of Romulan ship," demanded Witherell.

"They are still orbiting Trill, a few hundred kilometers in front of us,"
replied Lieutenant Remley. "Their shields are up, but their weapons systems
are powered down."

"Did you get all of that, Captain?" asked Witherell.

"Yes, I did," replied Rando, taking his seat in the command chair. He had
arrived on the bridge just as Remley began to answer Witherell's question.
"They haven't seen us yet?"

"If they have, they've shown no indication of it, sir," replied Remley.
"Wait! I'm picking up an energy build-up, sir. It's coming from their
transporter system."

"They must be beaming soldiers down there to look for survivors," said
Witherell.

"Or beaming down colonists," replied Rando. "Like I just told Doctor
Calabretta, a great deal can happen in just eight years."

"It seems that here, the Romulans have devastated the Trill race and have
infiltrated the Federation at least this far," replied Remley angrily.

"What should we do?" asked Witherell.

"What can we do?" asked Rando. "For all intents and purposes, we are simply
observers. The Prime Directive dictates that we must not interfere with the
natural course of events of a civilization, especially its past and future.
Our best bet would be to return information about what could happen to
Trill in eight years when we return home. Maybe we can prevent this
disaster."

"So no going out in a blaze of glory against a Romulan ship?" Witherell
asked.

"We're not even sure if the Romulans are responsible for this," Rando
replied. "They could be, as you said, looking for survivors. All we know is
that something devastating could happen to Trill, and we have a chance to
prevent it once we return. We can do nothing here. Ensign Marit, bring us
about. Full impulse. Engage."

"We're not going to beam down to the surface, sir?" Witherell asked.

"I don't think it will reveal anything new," said Rando, "or at least not
anything that will help us. We have more important business to deal with.
Doctor Calabretta tells me there's a good chance that once we exit this
radiation cloud completely, Lieutenant V'gel will return to good health."

"I'm interested in hearing how he came up with that," said Witherell.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll find out," said Rando. "He seemed so excited about his
discovery that I'm sure everyone onboard will know the story sooner or
later."

EPILOGUE

"How are you feeling, Lieutenant?" asked Doctor Calabretta.

"Extremely tired," replied Lieutenant V'gel. After the ship had cleared the
range of the radiation cloud, Calabretta had removed the stasis field, and
V'gel's immune system had quickly returned to normal. "What happened?"

"There'll be plenty of time for that later," said Calabretta. "I want you
to rest for now. You've had a very busy couple of days, even though you
spent most of it in stasis."

"Doctor?" called McDonald quietly.

"Get some sleep," Calabretta said to V'gel. "I'll be here if you need me."
He quietly walked out of V'gel's sickbay quarters.

"Lieutenant Krodel has come back," replied McDonald. "Apparently his
Rigallian flu is acting up again. That means that all of our patients who
were healed before have come back to nest."

"I guess miracle cures never last, do they?" asked Calabretta. "Well, let's
see if we can't make our patients better. It might take them longer to heal
this way, but at least our results will be more permanent."

******************************************************

"A very interesting story," said J.W. "Mystery, lives hanging by a thread.
You temporal beings are good."

"We aim to please," replied Rando, sitting in the command chair on the
bridge. "So are we ready for our next adventure?"

"I suppose so," J.W. answered, "although I'm a little disappointed you
didn't do more."

"Get used to it, J.W.," Witherell said. "We temporal beings can be like
that."

"I just hope the next adventure will have some more adventure," J.W. said.
"Maybe I'll bring you back to the Borg..."

"Don't you even dare," threatened Witherell. "I'm not sure what I'll do,
but I'll get even somehow."

"Very well," said J.W. "Besides, I can't stand repetition."

"Wormhole opening in front of us," reported Libby.

"Bring us in, Ensign Marit," ordered Rando. "Let's see where we're going
now."

"Aye sir," replied Marit.

"And as for you, J.W.," thought Rando, "if you ever get us into a situation
like that again where one of my crew members is hurt like that, I am going
to take serious action!"

Off to Rando's side, Commander Witherell sighed and made a note to contact
Counselor Kassal.

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