Vulcan Lunch

Posted on Mon Dec 14th, 2020 @ 1:52am by Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Lieutenant JG Sarah Wilson & Lieutenant Anna S. Thesia M.D.

Mission: Healing of Minds
Location: Sickbay

Anna had spent the time that T'Pora needed to recover studying similarities between the brain wave patterns of both victims, as well as T'Pora's during healing. She couldn't make much sense of them, but she was able to isolate a few sections that would provide some answers, she was certain, once an expert looked at them.

Her problem was, neither the computer nor the EMH had any good answers for her, but she had already decided that she'd skip the stage of asking the computer herself and go straight to asking the EMH, which was programmed to access the computer and interpret findings for her. Bonnie had done an outstanding job, she'd have to thank her later.

But in this case, the involvement of telepathy, which was still so little understood from a scientific and medical perspective, made it next to impossible for Anna and her access to Starfleet's resources to make any headway. If not for T'Pora, she might as well have given up. She decided she would have to mention that in her report. Civilian or not, that man deserved recognition from Starfleet.

Dr Sarah Wilson was working the main biobeds in sickbay, taking her turn looking after the patients, monitoring their condition and making sure everything was progressing as it should. Lt Vali was well and truely on the way to recovery, Crewman Ball was sleeping off his mindmeld and his brainwaves were now resembling that of a human being rather than a scrambled egg. And T'Pora was resting on a biobed meditating and recovering. The M.O took some readings as he seemed to be asleep, watching his brain recouperate from the experience. It was fascinating.

"You will find the delta waves are slightly out of sync and the seretonin levels outside of normal, but I can assure you they will stabilise within the next hour or so." A deep Vulcan voice intoned from the biobed, startling Sarah out of her wits.

"You're awake.. how did.." She stammered.

"Indeed, could you please advise Dr Thesia that I will meet with her at her earliest convenience" T'Pora intoned, sitting up on the biobed as though nothing had happened.

"She's in her office - I'll let her know", Sarah beat a hasty retreat.

Anna looked up as she saw Sarah walk in out of the corner of her eye. "Any changes?" she asked.

"Only the fact T'Pora sprung me taking readings on his brain whilst I thought he was sleeping" Sarah admitted, having the decency to look a little embarrassed. "He is asking to see you when you are available."

Anna chuckled and rose to walk to the replicator. "Please, do send him in. He'll want to eat something, I'm sure. I might be able to poke him with a few questions in the meantime."

"Sure." Sarah vanished from the doorway and was shortly replaced with a still slightly drained looked T'Pora.

"Thank you for abiding my request for time and peace" He said simply, standing tall in the doorway.

"You earned it", Anna said. "Please, come in, make yourself comfortable. What would you like? This replicator makes a mean plomeek soup."

T'Pora grimaced at the word replicated, but it would contain the nutrients his body required even if the flavour was 'replicated'.
"That would be sufficient" He replied, bending his lanky frame down into the chair opposite Anna.

"Have both the patients suitably recovered?" He queried.

Anna caught the grimace and that, if nothing else, made her realise how straining this experience must have been for the Vulcan. "They're both doing fine", she said, returning with two bowls of plomeek soup and two cups of tea, this time reading 'Sereni-tea' and 'Tranquilli-tea'. "They're both doing fine, but neither of them remembers anything."

She set down the bowl in front of him, then asked, "What kind of telepathic power are we dealing with here, and what can we do to neutralise it?" She figured a straightforward question was best.

T'Pora sampled the tea first, raising an eyebrow at the interesting mix of flavours. The scent of chamomile and spearmint was strong but not overpowering. The soup was next. Acceptable and unremarkable.

"From the damage inflicted on the minds of the two victims, the perpetrator is using some kind of telepathic device to inflict his will on his victims. He appears to be untrained in this and is learning through experience. His end goal is indiscernible at this stage, although if he is allowed to continue, the next victims may not be so fortunate." T'Pora replied.

Anna nodded. "That means, we'll need some way of finding him. At least we know it's a man, or could that be a false impression we're getting?"

"No, definitely male, and not of Vulcan descent. This mind was chaotic, dangerously so" T'Pora confirmed, continuing to eat the soup before him. His body appreciated the nutrients and his mind appreciated the tea. "Such a device would have to emit some kind of carrier wave in order to function - if we were to isolate such a wave - the source could be determined."

"Have your people encountered such devices before?" Anna asked. She was unaware of any previous incidents, or even folklore from thousands of years ago, as more recent events had not been publicised, and the reports by Starfleet were above her access level, and had therefore not shown up in a computer search. "Who do you think would be best at catching it?"

T'Pora paused for a moment as though considering the possibilities of various things before continuing. "The Stone of Gol, a telepathic device from Vulcan's more turbulent times could be used to achieve the results we have seen. Last I heard it had be been destroyed." He finished the soup and dabbed his mouth with a cloth napkin. "If it indeed has not been then it could be responsible."

"Can we assume that if one such device was created, more could exist?" Anna asked. "Is there a way to detect it, if it is indeed responsible?" Not her field of expertise, but anything T'Pora knew, Anna could relay up the chain of command, she figured.

"There is only one Stone of Gol" T'Pora said as a matter of fact. "If it indeed is responsible, the question to be asked is 'why was it not destroyed?'" He inclined his head slightly "The Stone focuses on violent and emotional tendencies and uses this as a control mechanism. It can make its victims do violent or emotional acts outside of their usual homeostasis." He continued, sipping the last of the tea. "As for its detection, it would need to be addressed at the highest level of Vulcan security. Only they would have the exact parameters of the Stone and its workings."

"I could think of any number of reasons not to destroy it, preservation of a historical artefact for scientific reasons only one among the better ones", Anna said. "But it belongs in a museum collection, not on the streets." She took a sip. "Do you think it would be wise to involve the highest levels of Vulcan security?"

"They are the only ones with the specifications of the device and thus the means to detect its use" T'Pora explained "Unless we can detect a pattern in the victims' neural pathways, almost like a signature."

Anna turned the screen on her desk around, which had some patterns already highlighted. "You mean something like this?"

"A most intuitive discovery" He praised, reviewing the scans and agreeing with the assumption Anna had formed. "Most impressive."

"Those are patterns the computer helped me identify", Anna admitted. "I just have no idea what they mean."

T'Pora analysed the patterns, he had seen something similar only once before. "I believe this may be the pattern we were looking for. However having only two victims so far it would be considered co-incidental. It is a start" He continued, focusing more intently on the patterns "It does look similar to the readings caused by the Stone of Gol - I studied the effects of the device early in my career."

"Hm, is that good or bad news, then?" Anna wondered. Maybe they should recall everyone from shore leave, since it seemed the crew as being targeted specifically.

"Good news in that we now have a working theory." T'Pora started, reviewing the patterns again. "Bad news in that we still have to locate who is using the Stone and discern their intentions." He considered the possibilities and decided there were too many options.

"We should take these findings to the skipper", Anna suggested. "She'll want to crack down on this quickly, and the Liberty's sensors are among the most advanced in the Federation."

"I concur with this course of action" T'Pora said simply, filing this new colloquialism for Commanding Officer in his mind. He had not come across it before. "I would assume that 'sooner rather than later' would be an appropriate summation of this?" He raised an eyebrow at the CMO.

"Indeed", Anna said, downing the rest of the soup even though it was still fairly hot. Her insides could deal with this, she knew from experience. "Shall we?"

"Of course" T'Pora recycled his bowl and cup in the small replicator in Anna's office, waiting for her to do the same before following her out the door. He was pleased that his patients were well on the road to recovery but concerned there may indeed be more.

"I'm really glad you came to help so quickly, and did such a great job", Anna said on their way to the lift. "I'd have lost Dick Ball without you, and I'm sure Aurora would spend months recovering."

"I was simply responding to the request of your Captain." T'Pora said without any emotion. "It was logical to send the most highly trained in this area for your assistance." He waited patiently as they came to the turbolift that would take them to deck 1.

"I know you're not supposed to accept praise or gratitude, but I still think you deserve it." Anna said. "Especially for the level of personal risk you went through for a total stranger."

"The risk was acceptable in relation to the probable outcome" T'Pora replied, nodding his head. "But your appreciation is accepted." The doors swooshed open before them, revealing the small confines on the turbolift car. It would be a few seconds before they were on the bridge.

"Bridge", Anna said as she entered, leaning against the back of the lift during the ride. "When this is done, it'll be one for the news."

" Let us 'get it done' first" T'Pora said with a most logical attitude. The doors swooshed open again, revealing the quiet bridge of a starship more or less at rest.