Schrödinger's Doc

Posted on Mon Oct 14th, 2019 @ 1:05pm by Captain Akiva ben-Avram & Lieutenant Commander Jonah Wilson MD & Lieutenant Sophie Xiong

948 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: S1E3: Barbarians at the Gates
Location: Administrator's Office | Overwatch Station
Timeline: MD 5

As Akiva read through the field reports from Cardassian space and beyond for the umpteenth time, all he could do was shake his head in grief. This was the worst casualty list he had seen in his tenure at Memory Theta. Even worse than when the field team had incited a supernova to destroy the Clock Maker infestation in the New Far Florence system. It never seemed to get any easier, sending the reports off to Command that would result in the redaction and falsification of service records before the next of kin could be notified. Despite the toll, he knew that some scientific minds considered it the price of progress and discovery. Unfortunately, one of those minds was the field team leader and head of Memory Theta's science division. While Mrazak was receiving accolades that burned Akiva to the core, others were trying to pick up the pieces and if possible prevent so many casualties.

Such was the purpose of this meeting.

"Thank you both for coming," Akiva said. "I don't know that we've all been properly introduced, so allow me to begin. As you both know, I'm Captain Akiva ben-Avram, Memory Theta's administrator. This is Lieutenant Sophia Xiong, a new transfer who joined the field team while on leave." His eyebrow quirked at the statement. "Sometime you'll have to tell me exactly how that came to be." Looking to the man in teal, he said, "This is Lieutenant Commander Jonah Wilson, the chief medical officer on Overwatch Station." And the man who had overseen Laena's pregnancy for several months until... Akiva shook his head, forcing the grief down so that he could focus on the matter at hand. "I don't have to remind either of you of the grave losses to personnel suffered on the Phantom. I requisitioned a newly developed medical suite that should be ready for installation as early as tomorrow, and you may consider this to be a briefing for said upgrade."

Akiva invited them to sit down in front of his desk. Usually he offered beverages or refreshments, but today he was all business. Hospitality could be found in the lounge section.

"First of all," he said, sitting down behind his desk, "what do either of you know about quantum entanglement?"

"The basics," answered Sophie fairly. After all, it was only the basics to be known, really. "It's a simple enough concept. Pair of groups of particles are generated and cannot be described apart from the others, even when separated by great distances." She glanced at Wilson, a somewhat haughty look on her face.

"I'll have to take both of your words for it," The Doctor responded. That was certainly not his specialty. His specialty was putting people back together when it was possible. Before he'd become a doctor he was a Marine in the Military Police and Criminal Investigations... when he didn't make any friend thwarting some conspiracies he was shoved into intelligence. Engineering he solidy had no experience in.

Akiva nodded. "Well, Starfleet R&D has been experimenting with a quantum entanglement comms system for some years. It's inefficient for fleet use because it's an all or nothing affair, as every transmission would be an All Points Bulletin for every paired transceiver." The old background in Ops made Akiva groan at the mere thought of trying to sort out such a tangle of messages. "At any rate, the Phantom is already cleared for a quantum entanglement communication transceiver that will be paired to one here at the station. Piggy-backed to that will be a highly experimental system called the QEMI for short--a Quantum Entanglement Medical Interface." Akiva pressed a button on his PADD which triggered a holographic display. Spinning slowly to show all sides was a biobed surrounded by several large hologram emitters. "It's derived from the EMH program, except rather than rely on a holographic program, it projects the avatar of a living doctor through the quantum entanglement, allowing for real time medical care over vast distances."

Looking to Jonah, Akiva said, "Doctor, you would be able to ensure the Phantom would never be without medical assistance ever again and all from the familiar comfort of Overwatch Station's Sickbay."

"I certainly have no objection to getting underway when necessary, Captain," the doctor responded. "That being said I also think that this is a fantastic way to be in more than one place at a time. I would love to give this a test as soon as possible."

"So, what do you think, Lieutenant?" Akiva asked Sophie. "Do you think you could get the system up and running before the next Theta alert?"

"As long as it comes with instructions, absolutely," answered Sophie confidently. "I can do anything with proper instructions. Or if it's self-explanatory."

"I'm not sure what expertise I can offer other than some basic bio-bed maintenance."

Akiva looked to Jonah. "Well, you would ideally be able to help test the system and fine tune the interface to best suit you." To Sophie, he said, "There might be some trouble-shooting with integrating it to the Phantom's unique design as a modified Defiant. I'd be happy to lend a hand if you hit any dead ends." It had been awhile since Akiva had gotten his hands dirty and he missed the feeling.

Of course Sophie was capable of handling anything that could possibly go wrong, but she also recognized the importance of making the captain feel important. "I will keep that in mind, sir," she replied.

"Excellent." Akiva did his best to smile, but his smoldering heartache kept his face barely above taciturn. "Keep me updated on your progress. Dismissed."

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