Snippet #2596828

Doctor Agosti watched carefully as Beto made some adjustments. "When you have time," she said as he worked quickly, "Nurse Edas and I would appreciate any information you have on fixing Lal. If she gets hurt again and you're not available, I want to be able to help her, especially since she's under my care as a part of the crew."

She watched as Lal woke and stood, watching to make sure that she was moving easily enough. "You may return to duty but I'd like to see you tomorrow when you have an hour or so free, to make sure everything is healing right."

Edas returned to attending to other crew members, many seriously injured by the electrical issues or shook about by their sudden deceleration. It wasn't just patching them up, it was reassuring them, calming them, and making sure that everyone could get back on their feet mentally and physically. If Doctor Agosti had her way, she'd probably have all of the crew in the Med Bay eventually, checking them over for any issues, he thought wryly. She was quite the mother hen.

"Nurse Edas, if you could help me get the Ensign up on the bed?"

"Yes, Doctor."

---

Captain Zekr looked at Yamada, assessing his state as best he could. "If you're certain, I could use another hand getting our systems back online up here. But you will go down after an hour or two, I don't want you aggravating that injury. We need everyone at peak health to make sure this mission is completed with as much success as we can at this point.

---

"What do you think happened?"

"I'm not sure yet." Valkris' dark face was pressed into angry lines. She wanted to bear her teeth but didn't want to offend the Security Officer in front of her, especially since she wasn't angry at her but at whichever DenIb Qatlh had done such a thing to this beautiful engine, even if it was part of the engine itself. "Chief Lal and I will be looking into it, I assure you, Lieutenant Commander."

Tyvya's tall blue form overshadowed the Klingon's but Valkris was built wide, like most Klingon warriors. Valkris wasn't sure if she could beat her in a fight, should it ever come to that, but she wanted to try. Now, however, was not the time. "The Captain wants us to get the Slip Stream Drive back online, so we'll be pushing forward with that."

Tyvya nodded. "Of course. But whatever proof you find of what happened, whenever you find it, please forward it on to me. I will not stand for a traitor on this ship."

"Understood, Lieutenant Commander. If I find out who what happened I will call you immediately." And if it was a member of the crew, right after she gave the Qu'vatlh a few bruises so that they understood that no one got between a Klingon and her duty. That something like this had happened on her watch was unacceptable, and if this had been a Klingon vessel the whole Engineering staff might be punished for this outrage. Thankfully Starfleet had a more just system, but part of her wanted to take out her bat'leth and start beating everyone around her--save Chief Lal, of course, who seemed entirely trustworthy and had too much integrity to do such a thing--until someone started talking. But from the look on the Lieutenant's face she thought that the idea had already been considered and rejected. Andorians were just almost as combative as Klingons, but harder to spur into a fight.

Tyvya nodded briskly and resumed pacing around Engineering, looking critically at the few crew who remained there. Had it been the Slip Stream Drive, a sensitive and volatile piece of mechanics that had caused its own problems? If the experiment failed it would be a blow to Starfleet but it was known that it was likely to fail. The engine had barely been tested and this was its first foray into the galaxy. But if someone had sabotaged it, as the feeling in her antennae told her, that person would meet a harsh form of justice. She would not tolerate betrayal.