It began with a simple incident. Dr. Chikace Larle had set up a free clinic in Kalama. One of the first things necessary to establish relations with the Klingons was to provide for medical care. The war in the Villa had left several with lingering health effect. Casey was in the free clinic when a Klingon came in complaining of flu like symptoms. Casey never thought much of it but asked for a full toxicology screen anyway. She gave the person a hypospray for nausea and asked the young Klingon to sleep it off. In hind sight, this may have been a horrible decision.
The wonderful concert by Entrigan was a great mingler for Klingons and the other races on the colony. It was as they all had expected, Romulans, Vulcans, Humans and Klingons all flocked to see the star performer. No one had ever intended for the concert to spark a full fledged incident. Casey got the toxicology report back and immediately sent the information to Dr. Skylight Greene at the Dr. Leonard McCoy Teaching Hospital. The colony may have a problem here.
Most of the long serving inhabitants of the colony know of the dark history of the colony whereby a Romulan Virus was used in a criminal biological warfare incident that mutated and spread to all inhabitants in what has become known as the Phoenix Plague incident. The horror story marked a dark time in Phoenix Colony history. The actions of Nicole Branson were the actions of a war criminal and in violation of every known convention in the laws of the United Federation of Planets. Biological warfare is strictly forbidden.
The virus was controlled through vaccination by Dr. Greene and was thought to be a dead issue but the Klingons were not here then. It appears that they have contracted the virus. Dr. Greene immediately contacted Nicole.
"Ma'am, we have a problem.", Skye began.
Nicole rubbed her eyes as she sat up in bed, "Dr. Greene?"
Nicole cleaned the sleep from her eyes, "Go Ahead."
"The Klingons have the Phoenix Plague. We need to figure out how to innoculate the population.", Skye explained.
Nicole jumped into her pants and stood up, "Contact Commodore Viceroy, we may need military help to get them all."
"Already in progress.", Skye responded.
"There is a problem, General Kreeg will not allow Phoenix Defence League soldiers into the city. He claims it will send a wrong message.", Skye responded.
"I will meet you at the Federation Complex. We need to come up with a comprehensive delivery system.", Nicole explained.
Within the hour, Nicole arrived at the Complex. Vincent, Belvedere and Skye were there.
She looked at the group, "Can we synthesize enough vaccine?"
Skye looked at Nicole, "We have the students already working on this."
"Now how can we deliver it?", Nicole asked.
"The Klingons will not allow for military distribution.", Vincent responded.
"I say tell them to let us on the ground or they will all die.", the Colonel snapped.
"We want the Klingons not to see us as overbearing and controlling.", Nicole responded.
"I believe Bell. Tell them its this way or no way.", Vincent grumbled.
"What about alternate delivery methods? Could we put it in the water or within the replicator codes?", Nicole asked.
Skye walked over to console and began running simulations.
"What about dermo-absorbtion?", Nicole looked at Skye.
"Like spray it on them?", Belvedere asked.
Skye looked at Nicole, "Good concept. How do we get a ship into the no-fly zone without detection?"
"This must be a covert operation.", Vincent explained.
"We could use the Tongue.", Nicole suggested.
"But if Lt. Cheko leaves Governor's Station, it will be on high alert. He is closely watched because it is a way of knowing what you, Vincent and perhaps even President Hunt are up to.", Colonel Brown observed.
"Who else could fly the ship?", Vincent asked.
"What about Alexis Bladon?", Nicole asked.
"The cop? Why Bladon?", Vincent asked.
"She was a fighter pilot who fought the Borg. She would be perfect.", Nicole explained.
"She washed out. PTSD. She even lost it on the USS Equilibrium. She is a horrible choice.", Colonel Brown chastised.
"PTSD?", Nicole looked on.
"Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.", Dr. Greene explained.
"I will get the vaccine in absorbable format. I will get it into the replicator library and send it to Governor's Station. You guys get Alexis up there and get this in place.", Skye ordered.
Nicole, Phillip Lexington and Robert E. Leo met with Alexis Bladon. They explained the magnitude of the mission. Alexis was terrified but agreed. She headed for Governor's Tower to beam to the station. She looked at the Tongue. Cheko explained the controls. He looked at Bladon, "Don't f**k up my ship!"
These are the worst words he could ever say to Alexis. She was already a mess. Cheko, Fidelis and his staff loaded the vaccine into the Tongue. Alexis climbed into the cockpit. She was terrified. She slowly took the ship out. Her hands were shaking so bad, the nose of the Tongue actually vibrated because of her sensitivity on the stick. She started to cry as the sky faded to black and images of the Borg clouded her every site. She looked down embarrassed as she wet herself. She turned back towards the Station.
Vincent and Nicole were watching from the Embassy in Kalama. Vincent growled, "Where the hell is she going?"
"I knew it.", Colonel Brown snapped.
"I will scramble the Dogs.", Colonel Brown looked at Vincent.
"What!?", Nicole snapped.
"Look Nicole, we cannot have a Klingon pathogen entering the colony population. I had Dr. Greene synthasize a second batch. This is a military operation now. To hell with your civilian goals of maintaining good relations with the Klingons. We are prevent an epidemic. Colonel, you are go to enter the city at your leisure.", Vincent scolded.
"Wait.", Nicole snapped.
Alexis brought the Tongue around by the station, "Hold it together, Blade. You can do this.", she told herself.
Alexis looked down so embarrassed over what happened. She brought the pink slipstream ship into low flyby over the city of Kalama. She engaged the distribution which fell like rain on everything in the city. Casey walked out and stood in the rain, opening her mouth. She smiled as Klingon children and everyone ran outside to be in the rain. With controlled weather, this was a true rarity. Casey smiled. She loved the Phoenix Colony for doing this is a peaceful pattern. She had a new respect for Nicole and Vincent.
Vincent contacted Dr. Greene and asked her to do a formal scan of the entire population of Kalama. She told Vincent that it would take a few moments.
Nicole headed for Governor's Station. As soon as Alexis was getting off the plane, she was bombarded by hoses filled with the vaccine. She was literally blasted off her feet. She was soaked to the core. Nicole walked up, "Vaccine. You could have had a significant exposure."
Alexis slowly got back to her feet. Her flight suit was dripping wet and stunk like the vaccine. Nicole slowly walked up and whispered in her ear, "There is no exposure risk but figured you need a good cover."
Alexis welled up but managed to hold it together. She looked at Nicole, "Thank you."
Nicole smiled, "No, thank you. You are the hero here."
Alexis liked the sound of that. She went to get cleaned up.
Vincent called Nicole, "We have gotten the all clear. Great job, Vice President. Thank you for your patience. You may have saved us a difficult incident."
"Hear hear!", Colonel Brown could be heard in the background.
Posted by:
Nicole Branson
Vice President
Phoenix Colony
Phoenix Federation
Vincent Viceroy
Military Commander In Chief
Phoenix Colony
Phoenix Federation
