Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kirith stirred his drink absently in the mess hall, watching the other officers come and go. A few wore dress uniforms from the meeting with the Starfleet Inspector, but most had taken those off the instant they had a moment off duty. Kirith included. He couldn’t stand how the collar of the uniform pressed against the back of his neck.

Harley was sitting across from him, rambling on about a new code he was thinking of trying out with the comm system. Kirith didn’t remember him being quite so chatty at the Academy, but then again, they hadn’t known each other too well. Harley’s words filtered through Kirith’s Universal Translator implants unevenly, leaving Kirith trying to guess at some of the more technical terms.

Harley seemed to register that Kirith wasn’t paying very much attention and trailed off. “Are you alright?”

Kirith drew his gaze away from the other officers and tried to focus back on his friend. “Yes.” His semi-robotically translated voice grated against his ears uncomfortably. Kirith tilted his antennae forward slightly, trying to show that he wasn’t upset.

Harley smiled. “What’re you thinking about?”

“The inspection.” Kirith rested his chin on his hand, fingers fidgeting with the thin wire connecting his auditory implants to his vocal ones. “If you haven’t noticed, we don’t really know what we’re doing.”

“Speak for yourself!” Harley laughed, then realized Kirith was serious, and smiled a bit more sympathetically. “This assignment should be pretty easy anyway. The planet has already been documented, we’re just checking up on it.”

“Mhm.” Kirith’s gaze drifted again, this time to the stars out the viewport, blurring together slightly. He shook his head firmly, trying to stay present. He couldn’t afford to be unfocused when the ship was under inspection. “You won’t let me get distracted on the bridge, right?”

Harley nodded. “Of course. I’ll throw stuff at you if I have to.” To demonstrate, Harley tossed a spare uniform button at Kirith lightly. “Speaking of– we should get going.” Harley snatched up the button and stood, waiting for Kirith to do the same. Kirith stood as well, a bit more carefully. He put his hand on the back of his chair for a moment until the floor stopped rocking beneath his feet, then followed Harley out of the mess hall.

---------

Shrith had ink stains on her fingers. Kirith wasn’t sure how she could have gotten ink aboard, or what she was using it for, but the indigo stains complimented her ice blue skin nicely. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail, but a couple strands had fallen out and she kept brushing them out of her eyes as she reviewed the information about the planet Saucarro’s plant life. Kirith could tell she wasn’t finding anything new by the way her antennae twitched and turned agitatedly.

Something small hit Kirith in the arm and skidded across his control console. He picked it up carefully and turned it between his fingers, revealing it to be Harley’s button from earlier. Kirith looked over at Harley’s adjacent station, where Harley was staring at him, smiling. Harley shifted his gaze from Kirith to Shrith and raised his eyebrows slightly.

Kirith’s antennae twitched backward slightly, and he shook his head, turning his attention back to his work.

Harley had been right about one thing– this assignment was not going to be a challenge. Saucarro had already been discovered, explored, and documented by multiple higher-up science vessels before the Curiosity, and their compiled xenobiology reports seemed entirely complete. It was the ideal mission to go on while being inspected. The turbolift doors near the comm station slid open, and the inspector stepped forth as if Kirith's thoughts had summoned him. Kirith angled one antenna toward him, monitoring his movements as he began to stalk the bridge.

The captain looked up from the PADD he was reading and watched as the inspector began a discussion with Curiosity's security chief. She seemed irritated and the scales on her upper arms rippled as she spoke with the inspector in an undertone. Captain Jirillu didn’t seem pleased with this, and he cleared his throat to get the inspector’s attention.

“Inspector Mecim, is there something I can do for you?”

The inspector turned away from the security chief. “I was only asking your officer about some holes I’ve discovered in your security procedures.” He seemed hardly able to keep a sneer off his face as he spoke and Kirith half turned in his chair, glancing at Harley, who was also watching the exchange from his post.

“I appreciate that, Inspector. But surely, whatever your concern, it can wait until my officers are off duty. Distracting them from their work won’t fix any security breaches we may have.”

Mecim frowned but moved away from the security chief. He stepped down a level until he was closer to the command chair than the crew. Kirith twitched his antennae as the adrenaline in the room rose slightly.

The inspector crossed his arms. “I still can’t fathom why Starfleet Command would let someone like you captain a starship. As I recall, at the Academy you were more interested in sleeping around than passing your classes.”

There was a slight intake of air from the bridge crew, most still pointedly focused on their work. Jirillu leaned forward slightly in his chair, hooking a finger in the inspector’s collar and drawing him close until their noses brushed. “You would know, wouldn’t you? And as I recall, you didn’t seem to mind at the time.”

Mecim pulled away from the captain sharply, straightening his uniform. He seemed too flustered to respond, only marching away from Jirillu. He stopped before the turbolift and turned around. Kirith found himself surprised at how much pink skin could flush. The inspector’s face was almost red, where it had been pale before. His fists were clenched at his sides, and he spoke through his teeth, addressing the entire bridge. “Any of you with an ounce of sense would do well to transfer off this ship. I couldn’t be paid to serve under her.” With this closing statement, Mecim stormed into the turbolift, doors closing behind him.

Kirith pressed his antennae back, looking around in confusion. Apparently, the inspector and the captain had some sort of shared history. Shared with Phishi too apparently, judging by her expression. Kirith swiveled his chair back to face forward. He caught Shrith’s eye and twitched his antennae slightly. She responded by turning hers a fraction toward each other, the equivalent of a shrug. Kirith was a bit relieved that he wasn’t the only one behind on the subtext for a change.

The captain sighed from his chair. “Sorry about that everyone, he never did know how to stay out of other people’s business.”

“You don’t have to apologize for his behavior.” Phishi muttered from her helmsman position.

“Yeah, well.” Jirillu shook his head. “At least he picked the right profession. Kirith, would you join me in the ready room?”

Kirith jumped. “Aye captain.”

---------

“As head xenozoologist, you’ll have more authority on this mission. Shrithao will be in charge of the xenobotony, of course, but that means at any given moment you’ll be in
charge of half of the science department.” Jirillu said as he paced back and forth across the ready room.

Kirith nodded, shifting slightly on his feet. He kept one hand on the back of the chair behind him for support, but he really wasn't used to standing still this long.

“I recognize that no one here really has experience with things like this so–”

Kirith’s mind slipped away from the conversation slightly and the floor beneath his feet seemed to roll a bit like ocean waves. A ringing began quietly in his ears, then increased in volume until the sound drowned the captain's words. Kirith cut Jirillu off as the patterned carpet’s movement increased. “-- Can I sit down?”

Jirillu stopped walking and Kirith could feel the captain’s gaze land on the silver balance braces that wrapped around Kirith’s ankles just above the tops of his shoes. “Of course.” Jirillu gestured vaguely at the chair.

Kirith sat, taking a deep breath as the world steadied slowly. The ringing faded by degrees until the ambient noise of the warp engines returned. It was only once the walls stopped spinning that the adrenaline hit. Kirith tucked his hands by his sides to stop them shaking and waited for the captain to say something. Anything. That maybe he wasn’t fit to go on the mission after all, or maybe he shouldn’t even be on a starship if he couldn’t stand still for more than a minute or two. Kirith could feel his temperature rise and his antennae twitched and turned anxiously, but Jirillu didn’t say anything for a moment. Kirith almost jumped when he did speak.

“Do you mind if I stay standing?”

Kirith hesitated a moment. “No.”

“Alright. Well, as I was saying, neither you nor Shrithao has experience with command, so if you need anything, I can help. Give advice, for whatever it's worth.” There was a beat of silence. “Do you need anything?”

“No.” Kirith shook his head, then regretted it as the floor wobbled slightly. “I’m fine.”

Jirillu tilted his head to one side, the beads at the ends of his braids clicking together. “Okay. Kirith– you know I’ve read your medical file, right? I read everyone’s.”

Kirith stiffened slightly, fixing his eyes on a spot on the floor. “Yes, Captain.”

“Then you know it’s not an issue to me?”

Kirith’s antennae turned upward slightly.

“Some of my crew have disabilities, some don’t. That’s how it is in real life. Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations, or whatever it is the Vulcans say.”

Kirith nodded. “Yes, Captain.” He dug his fingernails into his palm to keep from flinching at that statement.

Jirillu sighed. “Alright then. If you really don’t need anything, you’re dismissed to go get ready for the landing party. That–” Jirillu stopped. “The inspector will be joining us.”

Chapter Text

The echoing sound of birdsong rang around the landing party as they traipsed through the underbrush of Saucarro. The dead leaves underfoot were easily the size of dinner plates and they reflected the light filtering through the tree canopy with a kind of iridescence. The air smelled thickly of soil and damp, but Kirith didn’t mind too much. The rain dripping down through the trees made a pleasant tapping sound against the leaf litter and the rustle beneath spoke of some small creatures making a home in the groundcover. Kirith kept his eyes on his feet, careful not to step on any native lifeforms, or to slip on the glossy leaves. His hands kept busy by twisting the strap of his medical bag back and forth on his shoulder. The bright red alert tags made him feel too visible among all the blue uniforms in the landing party.

Harley walked beside him, talking about the electromagnetic frequencies that were messing with his instruments. Shrith walked a few feet ahead, stopping every other second to scan some new plant or interesting flower that caught her eye. She also seemed to be talking a mile a minute, but Kirith was too far away for his translator to pick up her words. He didn’t think anyone else was close enough to hear her either. If he didn’t know better, Kirith might think she was talking to the plants themselves.

Harley tapped Kirith’s shoulder, and he flinched slightly. Harley caught Kirith’s elbow and steadied him for a moment. “Sorry about that, you didn’t seem to be listening.”

Kirith shook his head. “I was distracted.”

“Yeah, I can see that.” Harley tilted his head toward Shrith, who was now entranced by a length of vine trailing up a tree. “She’s pretty distracting, is she?”

“I don’t know what you’re implying, Harley.” Kirith focused his gaze back on his feet, hoping to hide the blue flush in his cheeks. He was fairly certain his translator hadn’t missed any subtext this time.

“Mhm. Well, you know, you two are supposed to be working together anyway. Documenting wildlife and all that. Why don’t I leave you to it?”

Kirith shook his head again. “I’m sorry I wasn’t paying attention, Harley. I don’t mind your company.”

“Incredibly high praise– this just in folks! I’m tolerable.” Harley laughed. “I’m just kidding. I’m sure you said something really sweet in Andorian.”

Kirith’s antennae twitched as he tried to keep up with the conversation. “Didn’t I?”

“Never mind.” Harley waved his hand dismissively. “You’re not putting me out or anything, I want you to go talk to her! You’re going to come off as antisocial if you don’t put some effort into it.”

Kirith nodded and tried to figure out what he was supposed to say, if he did get to talk to Shrith. He probably wouldn’t need to say anything, she generally did enough talking for two. Or three, if she really got going about plants. “Alright, I’ll talk to her.”

“So go!” Harley slowed down his walking pace until he dropped behind Kirith, and waved him forward.

Kirith kept walking at his normal pace, dodging a toad-like creature here and there as they popped out from under the leaves. Eventually he caught up to Shrith who was still thoroughly scanning her vine. “What are you looking for?” Kirith tilted his head at the vine, trying to see what was so special about it.

“Abnormal growth patterns.” Shrith glanced up at Kirith, then back to the plant. She reached out and carefully lifted a leaf away from the stem. “You see that? This plant has grown significantly within the last few weeks. These are usually a slow growing variety of vine, but this one must be getting some superior source of nutrients than vines in other areas of the forest. I suspect all these toads have something to do with it. They don’t live anywhere else. What do you think?”

Kirith crouched down next to Shrith and unhooked his bag from his shoulder. He lifted some of the leaf litter at the base of the tree where the vine grew, revealing a small cluster of tiny toads nestled in the shade. They hurried back out of view at the disturbance, leaving only an old dead toad in view. Small glistening fungus stalks sprouted freely from its body, their pale white flesh standing out against the neutral greens and browns. “Maybe the toads are particularly high in nutrients. When these mushrooms decompose them they make the soil here more fertile.” Kirith was almost certain he had read about that in the previous survey teams reports, but it was nice to at least feel like there were any dots to connect here on their own.

“Aha! I think you’re right.” Shrith settled the leaf of the vine back against the tree and reached under Kirith’s leaf to brush her fingers against the mushrooms. I don’t remember this particular species being in the reports. Do you?”

Kirith thought back, and he also couldn’t recall a fungus exactly like this in their data PADDs. “I don’t, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it wasn’t there.”

“Yeah. You’re the animal guy, I guess.” Shrith lifted her tricorder strap over her head and carefully moved the boxy instrument into the crevice. “Best to document, just in case. It would be a miracle if we could discover something new here wouldn’t it?”

“It would be something.” The sound of the rest of the landing party was fading as they spread out further into the trees. Kirith put the leaf down and pressed it back over the toad carcass and its strange decomposers, suddenly a bit nervous. He didn’t know if it was the odd mushrooms or the pressing silence, but he didn’t really like the feel of the situation anymore.

Shrith pulled back her tricorder and brushed loose soil from the top. “What’s wrong?”

Kirith shook his head and stood, knowing his unease wouldn’t translate correctly even if he tried to explain. His head ached in protest of the quick change in positions and the leaves around him swirled together sickeningly. Shrith stood up as well and touched his arm.

“Are you alright?”

Kirith opened his mouth to respond, but all that came out was a slight gasp as the forest floor swung up to meet him. He shut his eyes tightly, but didn’t feel any impact. The spinning intensified for a moment, then Kirith felt something cold against the side of his neck. Almost instantly the dizziness lessened and sounds began to creep back in around the rushing in his ears. Kirith blinked open his eyes, trying to make sense of his surroundings again. Shrith had caught him when he fell and was now holding him up by the shoulders. In her hand was one of Kirith’s hyposprays and his medical alert PADD. He wasn’t sure when she had gotten that from his bag. Shrith’s antennae twisted in agitation. “Are you okay?”

Kirith nodded and pulled away from Shrith’s touch, trying to get his feet back beneath him. Shrith pulled her arms back and fidgeted with the hypospray before handing it back. “Sorry. Was that the right thing to do? I read the PADD.” She looked down and seemed to realize she was still holding it. “Sorry!” She handed it back. “You’re okay, right?”

Kirith held the devices tightly in his hands, eyes fixed on the ground. He tried to even his breathing, but he couldn’t with Shrith looking at him like that. He turned away slightly. “We fell behind from the others.”

Shrith paused, then nodded. “We should catch up then.” She turned and started picking her way through the damp leaves in the general direction of the rest of the landing party. Kirith lifted his medical bag off the ground carefully and replaced the PADD and hypospray in the pockets, before settling it back on his shoulder and following Shrith. They walked in silence for a while, only hearing the soft noises of their boots on the forest floor, until Shrith spoke up again.

“Kirith…”

Kirith stopped walking and sighed. “I know. I know, but I didn’t choose this. It wasn’t my decision and I’m never going to know if they made the right one or not. So it doesn’t matter what I should have done, because this was the only option I had.” Kirith kept his eyes on the ground, but he could hear Shrith’s footsteps growing nearer. The toes of her boots came into his field of vision.

“What did you think I was going to say, Kirith?” Shrith asked. Kirith’s gaze slipped over the leaves and the creases in Shrith’s shoes as his mind shifted back to things he didn’t want to remember.

“I just don’t know. It’s not right, is it? To force a child to live like that? He’ll never have a career.”

“It just isn’t right. It isn’t done.”

“My zhavey said I can’t talk to you anymore. It goes against what we stand for. At least– I think that’s what she said.”

Kirith shook his head, bringing himself back to the present and the forest. He stepped around Shrith and kept walking. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It does.” Shrith hurried to catch up and walked beside him. “Kirith, I don’t know much about how our people treat people like you. I don't even remember Andor. You’re probably right to be careful, but I’m not going to treat you like they did, I promise. You can trust me, right? You trust Harley, so it’s not impossible.”

Kirith silently cursed his slow walking speed. “Harley’s not an–” Kirith stopped and stumbled backward, catching Shrith by the strap of her tricorder and pulling her back as well. Coiled in front of them was one of Saucarro’s strange snake-like mammals. It reared upward on one of its sets of back legs, baring its broken teeth and hissing sharply.

Shrith sucked in a breath as she regained her balance. “What is that?”

“You’re the plant girl, I guess.” Kirith murmured distractedly. He remembered this species, but they were supposed to be extremely docile. This one clearly was not. It weaved back and forth, spitting and twitching sporadically. Kirith took a step forward and it lunged, stopping just short of his uniform as if in warning.

Shrith pulled him back this time. “That was not in the reports.”

“It looks sick.” Kirith said, moving slowly in a circle around the animal. Its fur was patchy and pale and it seemed to be growing some type of tumor at the base of its neck. Its small, weasel-like, ears were torn as if it had already gotten itself into more than a few fights. “We should call this in.”

“Good idea.” Shrith took Kirith’s hand and pulled him back to a safe distance. At that moment the sound of traipsing feet grew louder around them and a few members of the landing party emerged from the trees behind them. With them was Inspector Mecim, who looked less than pleased with whatever he was writing on his PADD. Shrith stepped up to the group and clapped her hands to get their attention. “Stay where you are, there’s an aggressive animal here. We’re going to get it contained and beam it back aboard the ship for study, but we don’t want anyone getting hurt in the meantime.”

The inspector’s mouth twitched in an approximation of a smile, and he made a note on his PADD. “I thought there weren’t any dangerous animals on this planet?”

“There aren’t any naturally dangerous animals, but any animal can be dangerous if they’re pushed. We think this animal is sick or hurt.”

“Mm.” Another note on the PADD. Kirith’s antennae tilted backward, but Shrith shot him a look to keep him from saying anything. She activated her comm badge. “Shrithao to Curiosity.” A beat of silence, then the captain answered.

“Jirillu here, anything to report?”

“Just an animal we’d like to take aboard for studying. Could you send down a containment field chamber?”

“Of course. Anything else?”

“That’s all, Captain.”

“All right then, Jirillu out.”

Shrith turned back to the animal, still keeping her distance from it. The inspector stalked around the animal in a circle now that it had settled itself back down against the ground. Kirith twitched his antennae forward to get Shrith’s attention. She moved closer to Kirith, lowering her voice. “What is it?”

Kirith registered that she was speaking quietly and adjusted the volume of his auditory transplant with the dial just under his uniform collar. “Are you sure we should bring it aboard? It could hurt someone, or it could be contagious.”

“I’m sure. If we let it go, you can bet your life that the inspector will take note. It’s better safe than sorry, so we’ll check it out.”

“Alright. If you say so.” Shrith nodded and moved toward the newly materialized containment chamber, leaving Kirith fighting his lingering feelings of unease.

Chapter Text

Kirith turned his data PADD in slow circles on the conference table as the senior officers reviewed what they had discovered on the planet. Shrith had agreed to speak for him, as he was often left behind in quick back and forth conversations. She said that he had a lag like the news reporters on the old Earth television sets, which then led to a lengthy explanation of what exactly a television was. Kirith busied himself with watching the rest of the senior officers that he hadn’t gotten to know as well yet.

The captain sat at the head of the table but didn’t do much talking. The inspector stood behind him in what Kirith assumed was supposed to be an intimidating manner, but it just came off awkward. Next to the captain was the first officer, Phishi. Kirith had never actually met a Ferengi in person, but she seemed alright from his first impressions. She watched the conference through narrowed eyes, taking in every detail.

On the captain’s other side was the chief medical officer, Syfic. He looked how Vulcan’s typically did, with the exception of a slightly lighter shade of brown hair instead of the typical jet black. Much like Kirith, the doctor didn’t seem to really be following the conversation. When he was asked a question, it took him a second or two to look up from the desk and respond. Kirith wondered if that was the lag Shrith was referring to in himself. If so, he was glad that she was going to do the speaking.

Then there was Shrith, sitting to Kirith’s right. She was doing most of the talking, as this mission was almost entirely data collecting. To Kirith’s left was the Evian, Tanyl, and then on the other side of him was Harley. The security and operations officers sat off to the side but weren’t really relevant to the data review.

Shrith nudged Kirith with her foot under the table as the inspector approached the table and tossed a data PADD down in front of Jirillu. “And when were you going to tell the captain about this?”

Jirillu’s gaze flicked from Shrith to Kirith before picking up the PADD and scanning it. The inspector went on.

“These officers have brought a dangerous, possibly contagious, creature aboard the ship. This is unacceptable and unsafe.”

Jirillu set the PADD back down. “I already knew about this, Inspector.”

Shrith’s antennae quivered. “We followed all standard quarantine procedures, Captain. The animal isn’t a danger to the crew.”

“I know that.” Jirillu turned slightly to Syfic. “Doctor, what would you say the risk is of an infection from the animal that was brought aboard? I understand it’s being kept in sickbay for the moment.”

Syfic blinked at the question for a moment. “Would you like me to calculate the risk, Captain?”

“An estimate would be fine.”

Syfic was silent as he calculated. Kirith’s eyes were drawn to the Vulcan’s fingers, which twitched slightly as if he was drawing out the equations in the air. “The chances of a new disease that is unable to be contained by our quarantine procedures, and that the previous survey crews would not have discovered, is approximately five percent.”

The inspector scowled and snatched the PADD back up from the desk. “That is too high! Nothing should be brought aboard this ship until it proved to be safe.”

The captain sighed. “That’s unrealistic, Inspector. Everything on this ship has the potential to be dangerous. You can’t really expect–”

Syfic’s communicator chirped shrilly, cutting Jirillu off. “Dreider to sickbay, medical emergency on deck five.” The doctor was up from his seat and out of the conference almost faster than Kirith could track his movements. At least he had a fast reaction time in emergencies, Kirith thought to himself.

The doors swished closed, leaving the crew in silence. The captain folded his hands in front of him. “Well, I think that’s a good stopping point. Anyone have anything to add?”

When there wasn’t a response from the crew the captain stood. “Dismissed.”

--------------

Kirith hurried after Shrith down the corridor, antennae twitching as she slowed her pace for him. “Do you think the doctor’s right?”

“Yes, of course. It’s perfectly safe, I promise. And besides, it's standard protocol to investigate things like this.”

“Hm.” Kirith walked in silence for a moment. He hadn’t actually studied the creature since they had brought it aboard. He had been busy trying to get the science department under control. He had found one of the officers seemingly drunk or otherwise intoxicated at his station, and that issue took longer than he expected to solve. Kirith stopped short, barely keeping from bumping into Shrith, who had halted in the middle of the hall. “What is it?”

“Do you hear that?”

“Hear–” Kirith stopped. A loud thumping was coming from down one of the darkened corridors to their left. “What’s that?”
Shrith just shook her head. She peered around the corner, then jumped back as a crewmember lurched out of the corridor. Her inky hair was tangled in a mess around her shoulders, and she stumbled about the hallway erratically. Drool slipped from her lips and fell to the floor in sticky strands. Kirith took a step backward, but the movement seemed to draw the woman’s attention. She staggered toward him, eyes clouded.

Shrith caught the back of the woman’s uniform and pushed her firmly into a sitting position, activating her combadge. “Shrith to sickbay, medical emergency on deck 2.”

Silence. She activated the communicator again, still holding the woman down by the shoulder. “Shrith to sickbay.”

“A medical team is on its way. Please stand by.”

Kirith crouched down in front of the woman, still keeping his distance. “What’s wrong with her?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

Kirith waved his hand in front of the woman’s eyes, but she didn’t track his movement. She seemed almost docile now that she was restrained. Kirith adjusted himself into a criss cross position and tilted his head to the side, trying to make eye contact with the woman. “Are you all right?”

She whined high in the back of her throat, but her eyes cleared somewhat. She shook her head slowly.

“They’re sending doctors to help you. It’s going to be okay.”

“Kirith…” Shrith pressed down firmer on the woman’s shoulder. “I don’t like this.”

The woman lifted one trembling hand and held it out to Kirith. She whined again.

Kirith frowned. “Neither do I.” He started to stand up, but the woman snarled and lunged toward him, hands pressing his shoulders against the hard floor. Kirith’s vision blurred as his head hit the ground and he could feel the woman’s hot breath against his face. It only lasted a moment before the woman was hauled off him by multiple pairs of arms in blue medical uniforms. Shrith’s face replaced the woman's.

“Are you alright? Did she hurt you?”

Kirith sat up, the pain in his head making his eyes water slightly. “I’m okay.” The medical team had strapped the woman to an antigrav stretcher, and she thrashed and screamed in the restraints as she was pushed down the hall. Shrith snapped her fingers in front of Kirith’s face, drawing his attention.

“Can you tell me what the stardate is?”

Kirith laughed lightly. “I don’t have a concussion.”

Shrith’s cheeks flushed a darker blue and she sat back on her heels. “Of course.”

Kirith waited a moment until the worst of the pain had faded, except for the dull throbbing in his right antennae. But what else was new. He got back up to his feet, noticing vaguely that Shrith didn’t offer to help him. She stood on her own, still blushing a bit.

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Me too.” Kirith smiled.

--------------

Shrithao shook her head forcefully as she stared at the ferret-like creature behind the glass case. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t quite manage to focus. She just kept hearing Kirith’s laugh over and over in her head. His un-translated voice was so light and feathery, his laugh barely audible. Having Earth Standard as her first language meant that Shrith’s voice didn’t quite have the same musical quality as other Andorians. She tried to pretend that it didn’t bother her, but hearing such a happy sound from Kirith, so otherwise pensive, was more surprising than if she started speaking unaccented Andorian tomorrow. Surprising, but a nice kind of surprise.

Shrith was jolted unpleasantly out of her thoughts as the ferret creature slammed its face against the walls of its containment field, leaving smears of blood on its torn muzzle.

Shrith sighed and turned away from the animal, jumping slightly as she realized Syfic was standing behind her. The doctor moved so silently it was eerie. “Hi there, Syfic! What’re you up to, standing there?” Shrith caught her breath and straightened her uniform, speaking to calm her nerves.

Syfic shifted his hands on his medical tricorder. He wore soft gloves of some Vulcan material with silver script trailing up their seams. Shrith hadn’t asked, but she assumed that being a touch telepath and a doctor would require some sort of physical barrier between himself and his patients. He ran his gloved fingers along the edges of his tricorder before speaking. “I believe it would be… prudent to give you a physical examination.”

“Why? Is everything all right?”

Syfic watched the animal pace around in its enclosure. “I have noticed some concerning symptoms among the crew. Everything is very rarely ‘all right’, but to know for sure, I would like to give you a physical.”

Shrith smiled at the doctor’s odd speaking cadence. “Well okay then, lead the way.” She gestured vaguely at the entrance to the main sickbay. Syfic turned and walked through the entrance, weaving between the beds, until he arrived at the examination table. Shrith stepped up onto the vertical bed and waited as Syfic activated his tricorder. As the table tipped back, Shrith wondered how Kirith did physicals if changing positions like this made him dizzy. He probably would object to her asking. The table turned forward again until Shrith was right side up. Syfic gestured for her to step off the bed.

Shrith complied. Syfic walked around behind her and Shrith could feel him lift the ponytail off the back of her neck. She knew her hair wasn’t exactly regulation, but the captain didn’t seem to mind. He wore his hair long too. Her hair fell back against her neck and Syfic moved back into her view. Shrith smiled. “All good?”

“Yes.”

Shrith hesitated for a moment, starting to feel a bit uneasy. “Why did you look at the back of my neck?”

“Some of the patients I have treated had irregular nodes on the backs of their necks. I was checking to ascertain if you were experiencing the same symptoms.”

Shrith frowned. “How many patients have experienced this?”

“Three so far. I am going to alert the captain if the number rises any further.”

“Hang on… follow me really quick.” Shrith walked swiftly forward, returning to the room where the animal was kept. The brown furry creature was curled up in the center of the enclosure now, breathing raggedly. Shrith gestured Syfic to come forward and she pointed at the back of the creature’s neck. The fur there was parted by a number of pale tumorous lumps. “Did they look like that?”

Before Syfic had a chance to answer, one of the lumps swelled slightly and changed from a pale tan to a bruised purple. It stayed still for a moment before swelling again and bursting. A cloud of tiny white particles burst from the tumor and swirled into the air around the creature. As Shrith and Syfic watched, the particles diffused throughout the containment field. When the topmost particles brushed against the seam between the bulkhead and the ceiling they hovered for a moment before being sucked through an almost invisible crack and disappearing.

Shrith turned slightly to catch Syfic’s eye. “I think we have a problem.”

Chapter Text

Kirith hummed softly to himself in the officer’s mess hall, letting his favorite charcoal pencil sketch aimless lines across the paper in front of him. He knew from outside he looked peaceful, but the building pressure inside his chest was almost driving him insane. The awful buzzing sensation’s only outlet of release was the careful movements of his charcoal on the sketchbook. It didn’t feel like enough, but the humming was helping a little. He couldn’t shake that woman’s erratic behavior from his head. She acted so similarly to the crewmen he’d removed from their stations for intoxication just the other day. But she had been so… violent. He couldn’t quite place where he’d seen it before, so he tried to push it from his mind.

A lunch tray clattered down on the table across from Kirith, making him jump. Harley sat down in the opposite chair and leaned forward to see what Kirith was drawing.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Kirith turned his gaze back to his paper. Of course, Harley could see through him. The memory of the woman’s hot breath flashed through Kirith’s mind. “No.” His pencil strokes changed paths and began to sketch out the profile of Harley’s face.

“Want to try that one again, honestly this time?” Harley paused and tilted his head at the paper. “Is that me? That’s really good.”

Kirith’s pencil paused while he tried to make sense of the series of questions. “I said what I meant to say, yes, it is you, and thank you.” Without the humming the pressure was beginning to build again. Kirith could see the woman in his mind, tangled hair and foamy saliva. That was it. Saliva, aggression, erratic movements, and– yes. Small growths on her neck underneath all that hair. She was behaving just like the creature from the planet. Kirith stood up suddenly, his chair tipping over and clattering to the ground. Harley stood up too, but before he could speak the shipwide intercom sounded.

Attention all crew. This is the captain speaking. As of now the ship is on a level two quarantine. Report to your assigned positions and await further instruction. Jirillu out.

“What? Kirith, what’s going on?” Harley’s voice joined the growing murmur of frightened voices around them.

“I’ll explain later, I promise.” Kirith shoved his sketchbook and pencil into his medical bag and took Harley’s hand, pulling him away from the group of people, nervously watching for twitching or drooling. “I’ll explain. Just get to your position like the captain said.” Kirith cut off Harley's protests and pushed him out the door of the mess hall. “I’ll find you.” He left Harley standing in the hall and walked as fast as he could to sick bay.

When he arrived, the doors didn’t open automatically. Kirith hesitated and knocked on the door, feeling anxiety rise inside him. How bad was it? How many of the crew were infected? And above all, how did this happen? How could he have let this happen?

The doors opened, revealing Shrith on the other side. She wore a surgical mask over her mouth and nose and pressed a matching one into Kirith’s hands. “Put it on.”

Kirith hooked the loops over his ears. The right elastic settled oddly on the universal translator behind his ear, unfastening the magnetic connection to the auditory implant. He did his best to adjust it, but he figured that, in a quarantine situation, wearing a mask was probably more important than understanding all of what was being said to him. Shrith pulled him inside the door once his mask was secured.

The sick bay beds were almost totally full of patients in restraints. Three beds were surrounded by a clear biohazard barrier. Shrith gestured for him to follow her into the attached science wing where it was a bit quieter. Shrith closed the door behind them.

“Are you okay? Feel crazy or anything?”

Kirith shook his head. “I feel fine. What’s going on? How bad is it?”

“Whatever this is isn’t a virus, it—-------. Like on the planet with the frogs. Remember?”

Kirith fidgeted with his translator, trying to get it to connect again. “What?”

“The frogs. You remember the mushrooms that were growing on the dead frogs?”

Kirith nodded, trying to follow.

“Those mushrooms sprout like that after infecting a host. They infect the brain and then release their spores through the growths on the host’s neck when they sprout.”

Kirith’s gaze travelled across the science lab, seeing small pieces of fungus under the microscopes around the room.

“Okay. So, it spreads through spores.”

“Yes. Spores breathed in through the nose, specifically.”

“Why didn’t the quarantine measures contain this?” Kirith set down his bag and walked around the lab. He looked into a microscope, watching the fungus cells start to die as they spent longer separated from a life source. He looked up when Shrith didn’t answer. “Shrith?”

Shrith’s skin was a slightly deeper shade of blue than usual. “There was a… gap between the bulkheads of the containment chamber. It led into the ventilation system.”

Kirith paused in adjusting the microscope. “A visible gap in the bulkhead.” That kind of breach of security should have been caught a thousand times over before the Curiosity even left Spacedock. Someone was going to get fired for this.

“Yes.” Shrith’s antennae drooped for a moment, but she shook her head. “At any rate, it’s more important to solve the problem right now than to think about anything else.”

“Right,” Kirith said, recognizing Shrith's subject change. He picked up a medical tricorder and approached the edge of the energy field that was supposed to contain the specimen. By now the creature was dead, long pale stalks of fungus climbing up from the base of its neck. Kirith lowered the energy field and stepped into the tiny room. Scratches marred the walls and floor of the enclosure, showing the path the creature had paced before its life had ended. He crouched next to the ragged animal's corpse and activated his tricorder. The data began to scroll across the reader as Shrith stepped up behind him.

“What’s —------ you’re not—-----”

“What was that?” Kirith fidgeted with his translator, eyes still on the feedback from his tricorder.

“It’s just strange that you’re not affected. I mean– you’ve probably had closer contact with an infected person than any member of the crew.”

Kirith frowned, reading his data. “Maybe not that strange. Look at this.”

Shrith leaned forward. “What does it mean?”

“Right here.” Kirith tapped a portion of the screen with his finger. “See the area of the brain this fungus is attacking? Those neural pathways are almost entirely unique to this particular type of brain. Four main lobes: frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal. Large prefrontal cortex. Presumably any species with a brain that differs from this general structure would have a harder time getting infected.”

"Including Andorians." Shrith sat back. “Well, we can count ourselves lucky.”

“We can. But the Humans, Orions, Bajorans… most of this crew, would be incredibly susceptible.” Kirith turned one antenna in Shrith’s direction as she sighed.

“We have to tell them, don't we.”

Kirith frowned. “Naturally.”

Shrith ran a hand through her hair. Kirith thought he could see her fingers shaking a bit. “Well let's get this over with.”

Kirith got to his feet and closed the containment field, starting toward the door. Shrith stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

“Hang on.” She messed with her silver-white hair for a moment, withdrawing a small pin from it. She reached out and slid the pin under the elastic of Kirith’s mask, pulling it away from his translator and fastening it into his hair behind his ear. “That should work better.”

----------

“I thought you said the risk was five percent!” Inspector Mecim slammed his hands against the table. Sometime between the previous conference and this one he had gotten his own chair. “Some five percent this turned out to be!”

Kirith followed the inspector’s gaze back to Syfic, who seemed uncomfortable under the eyes of the senior officers. “The risk was approximately five percent, if our quarantine measures were functioning. Since they were not, the estimate becomes irrelevant.”

The captain winced visibly, even behind the mandatory masks. The inspector pounced on this piece of information.

“You’re telling me, Captain, that your crew knowingly brought a contagious creature aboard the ship with no functioning quarantine measures? I'd say Starfleet Command would be very interested in that information.”

“What’s done is done, Mecim. Right now, we need to focus on helping the people who are infected, and stopping further spread of these spores. Pointing fingers isn’t going to help with either of those things.”

Kirith glanced at Shrith, who was staring at her hands, antennae drooping.

Jirillu continued. “So, what can we do here?” He looked around expectantly at the crew, then back at the doctor. “Syfic?”

The doctor tapped his fingers rhythmically against the desk. “With some crew volunteers, I believe I would be able to manufacture an antifungal solution to target the spores.”

The captain nodded. “Of course, anything you need.”

“Specifically–” He paused again, eyes focused on his hands. “Ferengi, Andorian, Tellarite, and Gorn crew members. They are least susceptible to infection.”

“I can help.” Phishi straightened in her chair. “I have some medical experience.”

The captain nodded. “I’m sure Kirith and Shrithao would be willing to lend a hand as well.”

Shrith didn’t respond, but Kirith nodded and hoped that would do as an answer. Apparently, it did.

“Alright everyone, until a cure is found full quarantine procedures will be followed. There haven’t been any casualties yet, so there’s no reason to panic.”

The officers murmured agreement, with the exception of the inspector who stood and walked stiffly out of the room. Kirith thought of the corpse of the weasel creature and shifted nervously. 

Jirillu's eyes tracked the inspector as he left, then returned to his crew. "Be careful everyone and keep me informed of any developments.” The captain looked around at the officers around the table. Kirith thought he caught a glimpse of worry in his expression. "Dismissed.”

Kirith caught up to Harley on the way out of the conference. “Are you okay?”

“Am I okay?” Harley put a hand against Kirith’s elbow and brought him out of the path of the other crew members. “Are you? All those people in the science department–”

“You heard what the doctor said, Andorians aren’t as susceptible. I’ll be fine.”

“I sure hope so.” Harley’s eyes looked dark, but Kirith couldn’t read his facial expression through the mask. “Kirith you have to be honest with me about this, okay?”

“...Okay.”

“How screwed are we? Scale of one to ten?”

Kirith hesitated. Almost every bed in sick bay was occupied by a crewmember crazed by the fungus to the point of tearing at their own skin. And with the spores airborne, they were likely already across the whole ship. He and Harley could be standing in them right now– in fact, they probably were. It was only a matter of time until all susceptible crewmembers were infected. While it was true there were no casualties yet, Kirith found it hard to believe that the animal from the planet had died of natural causes in the containment field. Scale of one to ten would not be a very comforting number.

Harley sighed at Kirith’s silence. “That bad?”

“I don’t–” Kirith shook his head, trying to get his thoughts in order. “We just can’t panic.”

“Mm.” Harley stepped back into the main area of the hallway, now empty as unessential crew were confined to quarters. His words echoed eerily in the silence. “Easier said than done." He made a frustrated noise. "I just wish I could help.”

“You can’t.” Kirith caught Harley’s hand, pulling him back as a rush of fear turned his fingers cold. "You can’t help. Promise you won’t try. Keep your mask on and stay away from people, and maybe we’ll be alright.”

Harley tilted his head to one side, expression still unreadable. He was silent for a long moment, then freed his hand from Kirith’s and reached up to touch the hair clip still keeping Kirith’s mask elastic away from his translator. “What’s this?”

Kirith felt warmth rise in his cheeks, though he wasn't sure why. He couldn't understand why this mattered right now. “Shrith gave it to me.”

“I like it. It suits you.” Harley paused. “I can’t promise that I won’t help people. Surely you know that.”

“Yes.” Kirith’s antennae drooped slightly. Harley had once insisted on making a bowl of soup for every cadet who came down with the flu at the academy and delivered them all in person. He and Kirith hadn't seen much of each other then, but for a good two weeks after flu season, Harley was absent for every lecture he and Kirith shared. Kirith wondered if anyone made Harley soup when he was sick. “You don’t have very much common sense.”

“Exactly right.” Harley smiled beneath his mask. “Be careful out there.” He didn’t give Kirith a chance to respond before he walked back down the corridor and turned the corner, leaving Kirith alone in the hall.

Chapter Text

Kirith sat on the edge of his bed and unstrapped his braces from his legs. It had only been two days since the initial infection but to Kirith it easily could have been a week. He couldn’t remember exactly how long it had been since he’d slept, which was probably not a good sign, but there had been no time for a break. By now there were only a handful of qualified doctors in the sickbay, the rest of the staff just volunteers like Shrith and himself. While they had all taken basic medical classes at the Academy, Kirith was beginning to realize nothing could really prepare you for something like this. The smell of rot and infection stuck in the back of his throat for hours after his shift in sickbay, and he wasn’t sure that the screaming had ever left since that first day. Which was probably why he couldn’t bring himself to go to sleep even now.

Kirith had never been comfortable with his dreams, at least not since he was too young to understand everything that could go wrong at any time. Now his mind seemed to hold on to every worst-case scenario and play them back through his mind while he slept. There were many more worst-case scenarios now than there usually were and all of them were focused on those sterile white walls and the suffering permanently etched there. Kirith had never been able to stand hospitals.

Kirith stood from the bed and made his way to the replicator, keeping one hand on the wall to stay balanced. He ordered a hot tea, hoping it would calm his mind, then sat at his desk, disconnecting his translator implants and setting them aside. He activated his computer console and scrolled through the reports from the science department. 0500 hours. Minimal developments on the antifungal, fifteen more cases of the virus, three crew members in critical condition. Kirith deactivated the console and took his mask down to drink his tea. His next shift started in only a few hours. Kirith told himself there wasn’t much point in going to sleep anyway, and did his best to shake the fog from his head and be productive. Maybe it would be like one of those old movies Harley loved to show him. Maybe a bolt of space lightning would strike their antifungal solution while he sat here and mutate it into something more powerful than what you could get with a standard medkit. Somehow it didn’t seem likely. Maybe in a few weeks the Curiosity would be a skeleton ship with only a handful of resistant crew members aboard to run it. The fungus-eaten corpses would overflow the sickbay and lie in the halls, mouths stretched wide in their final cries.

Kirith’s stomach turned, and he pushed his tea away. It wouldn’t come to that. Not if he worked hard enough.

Since when have you ever done that?

Kirith pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes until spots danced behind his eyelids. Never, that’s when. He could never do enough.

It was only when the door chime jolted Kirith awake that he even realized he’d dozed off. He fumbled with his translator’s and haphazardly connected his transplants, fingers tangling in the wire connection between the auditory and vocal components.

“Who is it?”

Silence.

Kirith frowned and stood, bracing one hand on the back of the chair to stay on his feet. “Hello?” He moved his hand from the chair to the bookshelf and approached the door. He typed his code into the panel on the wall and the door opened with a soft sound. “Hell–”

Something dark and heavy hit Kirith hard, slamming him back onto his quarter’s thin carpet.

----------

Kirith woke in the dark. He registered vaguely through the pain in his head that the motion sensor lights must have turned off. He struggled to sit up, slowly becoming aware of a warm weight on his chest. He pushed whatever was on top of him aside and propped himself up on his arms. The room's internal sensors picked up his struggle to move and illuminated the overhead lights. Kirith pushed himself upright and looked to his side, trying to make sense of what had fallen on top of him.

A lump of yellow and black cloth, brown curly hair– Harley.

Kirith’s breath caught in his throat. He moved closer to Harley and touched his shoulder. “Harley?” There wasn’t a response. Kirith didn’t really expect one. He could taste the scent of infection in the back of his throat already, sweet and sour at the same time. He ran a hand under Harley’s hair and felt two raised bumps clustered at the base of his neck. “Shit. Shit, okay.”

Kirith pulled his mask back up and looked around, trying to think. He needed to get Halrey to sickbay before he woke up. First step was standing. Kirith reached behind him and dragged his desk chair closer, pulling himself up into it as carefully as he could. Pressure built in his head at the movement and Kirith tried his best to ignore it. He hadn’t hit the ground nearly hard enough for a concussion, had he? It didn’t matter right now. Kirith waited a moment to let the pain fade, then grabbed his braces from beside the desk and leaned over to strap them back on. He had to stop every couple of seconds to breathe through the dizziness, but after what felt like ages he had fixed the braces back in place. His gaze slid over to his shoes, set tidily on the other side of the room. This was going to take way too long. Harley shifted on the floor and murmured under his breath.

“Okay,” Kirith said to himself quietly, trying to keep calm. “Okay, plan B.” He activated his combadge, glad he hadn’t taken that off yet. “Kirith to…” To who? He’d seen the state of sickbay for himself, by the time they could spare a volunteer to come all the way to this deck he may as well have done this himself. And who else was there? With Harley sick, he didn’t know anyone on this ship well enough… or didn’t he? “Kirith to Lieutenant Commander Shrith, come in, please.”

The reply was almost instantaneous. “Shrith here, everything okay?”

“No.” He glanced at Harley, who was twitching again. “Harley's sick. I can’t move him.” Kirith hesitated, casting a glance at his shoes. “I– need your help.” The words caught in Kirith’s throat, and for once he was glad his translator didn’t convey nuances like that.

“I’m on my way, hang tight.”

Hang tight. He didn’t really have a choice about that did he? How far could he possibly go? He could at least start to put on his shoes. Try to be useful. Kirith stood from the chair, holding on to the back. He walked carefully over to the opposite wall, the smooth polymer bases of his braces slipping slightly on the almost textureless carpet. He really wasn’t supposed to walk without his shoes. There just wasn’t enough traction. He could almost feel his doctor’s breathing down his neck from across space and time, chastising him. The door chime rang out loudly in the silence, making Kirith lose his balance. He caught himself with one hand on the wall and lowered himself down to the floor. And that’s why you don’t walk in your braces. Kirith shook his head to clear it. “Come in!”

The door opened and Shrith stepped inside, stopping short at Harley’s limp form. “Oh.” She looked up and turned her antennae. “You’re on the floor?”

“Ah, yeah.” Kirith pulled his shoes closer. “Putting on my shoes.”

“...All right.” Shrith crouched next to Harley and touched two fingers to his wrist. Kirith watched her for a moment before he remembered he was supposed to be putting on his shoes. He pulled his gaze away.

“He seems stable. He should be okay until we get him down there.”

“Up there.” Kirith fixed his shoes and stood. “We’re on deck four.” Harley’s eyes fluttered, making Kirith’s antennae stand straighter. Harley looked so pale, two steps away from a corpse. It couldn’t have gotten that bad so fast, could it?

Shrith’s expression hovered somewhere between concern and pity as her eyes met Kirith’s. “He’ll be okay. C’mon, help me lift him.”

----------

Sickbay felt like miles away, even though the Curiosity wasn’t nearly that large. When they finally arrived, both Kirith and Shrith were out of breath, even though Kirith hadn’t been taking nearly as much of Harley’s weight. The entrance to sickbay appeared around a corner and Shrith sighed in relief. Kirith braced himself for the chaos as the doors slid open and they stepped inside.

The room was filled with volunteers dashing about in haphazard medical uniforms. In a matter of moments Harley was taken from Kirith and Shrith’s shoulders and whisked off to one of the makeshift beds clogging the walking space. Kirith reached out to try to keep Harley close, but the crewmembers carrying him hardly seemed to notice something as small as that. Kirith’s translator struggled for a moment to catch all of the overlapping conversations of the sickbay, but seemed to give up after only a few seconds, reducing everything to a garbled mess.

Syfic stopped in front of them midway to the bed of a patient struggling against their restraints. Kirith’s translator popped audibly as it registered a voice distinct enough to interpret.

“------Test as a precaution.”

Test?

The doctor walked back through the crowd and Shrith followed. Kirith hesitated, then followed as well, tapping Shrith’s shoulder. She half turned as she walked, antennae tilting forward inquisitively.

“Where are we going?”

“To the examination rooms. He said he’s testing all of the volunteers, just to be– Kirith?”

Kirith had stopped walking. Examination rooms. Don’t take me back there, you can’t make me, you can’t make me. He shook his head, not sure if it was to shake the fear from his mind or to signal negation to Syfic’s request.

“It’s just a precaution, Kirith, it’ll be fine.”

Kirith shook his head again and took a step backward. He hadn’t entirely intended to do that, but any distance between himself and the examination rooms was a little more air he could breathe. He could handle the misery of the sickbay floor, the screaming and the crying and the bleeding, because nothing truly bad happened there. That was the key. Sure, people suffered, but people suffer everywhere all of the time. But when the doctor’s want to tell you the horrible things they take you into the quiet rooms. Because you can’t tell a mother that assisted suicide is the kindest option where just anyone could see. No, Kirith knew better than to trust an examination room. He took as deep a breath as he could through the mask and the smell of sickness. “No, I don’t want to do that. I’ll just– I’ll just go, it’s fine.”

Shrith frowned, eyes flicking up to Kirith’s antennae, which were quivering. He forced them to still, but Shrith’s concerned look didn’t leave. “Kirith, what’s wrong? What’s going on?”

“I don’t–” Kirith stopped. He wished Harley was here. He barely had to explain anything to Harley, it always seemed like he just knew. Harley would sit next to him in the room and talk the whole time so it wasn’t quiet and Kirith wouldn’t have to figure out how to ask him to. Kirith could still feel Shrith’s eyes on him. “I don’t like doctors.” God, he hated how weak that sounded. He wasn’t a child; he shouldn’t be scared of doctors like he wasn’t scared of the dark. That was something to outgrow.

Kirith could see Shrith move to touch his shoulder in his peripheral vision but stop short and withdraw. “Do you want me to go in there with you? I’m sure Doctor Syfic can do both examinations at once.”

Kirith nodded, eyes fixed on the floor. His face felt hot, and he twisted the wire between his implants, wishing he could just pull them out so he wouldn’t have to say anything anymore.

“That’s all right, I wouldn’t want to be alone either.” Shrith hesitated again before turning and heading back toward the quiet rooms. Kirith followed, against all of his instincts. If Shrith said she wouldn’t leave him there alone, he believed her.

----------

Shrith sat as still as she could while Syfic poked and prodded her with his tricorder. It hadn’t taken much explanation to get the doctor to let Kirith and Shrith share a room, but he insisted on doing each examination personally, so Kirith had to wait his turn on one of the visitor chairs, while Shrith took the biobed. She found the experience a bit tedious at most, especially when there were people out there in sickbay she could be helping. Shrith tilted her head back at a gentle touch from Syfic and he lightly felt the areas around Shrith’s neck, probably for abnormalities or fungus tumors. His gloves were warm against her skin.

It only took a minute or two for her examination to end and she hopped off the biobed at Syfic’s gesture. She and Kirith switched places while Syfic entered data onto the computer console at the back of the room. Shrith watched Kirith closely as his shoes kicked against the biobed. He looked a little distant and his antennae had gone back to shivering, straight up in the air as if he expected someone to attack him. This seemed like a little more than ‘not liking doctors.’ As Syfic returned to begin Kirith’s exam, Shrith decided to talk a bit to distract him.

“Is it terribly cold on Andor?”

Kirith flinched slightly as Syfic’s tricorder beeped. “What?”

“I’ve never actually been. I don’t know if the cold will be something I’m naturally used to, or if I’ll have to bundle up if I want to visit.”

“Oh.” Kirith’s antennae followed Syfic as he moved around to examine the back of Kirith’s neck. “It’s pretty cold. Snowy. You might want to wear a coat if you don’t like being cold.”

“Good to know.” Shrith smiled. “Have you ever built a snowman?”

“A what?” Syfic made a disapproving noise and held Kirith’s head still with one hand. “A snow human?”

“Snowman, yeah. It’s like a person that you make out of snow. Like a stack of big snowballs that look like a person. I take it you haven’t made one?”

“No, I have never made a snow human.” Shrith was pleased to see that Kirith seemed a little more present.

“Well one day, I’ll have to teach you.”

“The examinations are complete. Please excuse me for a moment while I calculate the results.” Syfic abruptly turned and left, leaving the Andorians in silence.

Oddly enough Kirith seemed more upset now, one hand fidgeting with the silver wire that ran from his translator and disappeared below his uniform collar. His antennae twisted anxiously. Shrith searched for something else to distract him before he couldn’t be calmed down. Something that he’d want to talk about. She cleared her throat. “Can I ask a personal question?”

Kirith shrank back slightly but nodded anyway.

“Do you have any partners?” She hesitated, trying to remember everything she had tried to learn about her culture as a kid. “Bondmates?”

Kirith blinked, as if that wasn’t what he expected her to ask. He responded after a moment. “Yes. Ashas and Etivias.”

Shrith paused. “Just two?” She felt an odd sensation somewhere in her chest but pushed it aside. That was something to figure out later.

Kirith nodded. “Yes. We don’t mind. There aren’t many Andorians who are okay with…” He gestured vaguely to his translators. “Us three grew up together though, so they’re better about it.” He paused. “Etivias is, anyway.”

“They sound nice.”

“She is.”

There was a beat of silence before Syfic reentered the room. Kirith tensed visibly, but the doctor didn’t keep them waiting long. “Both tests are negative. You will both be assigned to nursing for this duty shift.”

Shrith was pretty sure Kirith had already done his shift this 24-hour period, but she didn’t comment. They needed every pair of hands they could get and she was itching to get to work.

Chapter Text

The list on Kirith’s data PADD seemed to go on for miles. How many patients could possibly be sick? He already felt as if he had performed checkups on every crewmember on this ship, and he wasn’t even halfway done. The heightened sense of exhaustion might have come from not truly sleeping in 48 hours, but as far as he could tell, none of the other volunteer nurses seemed to be holding up any better. With progress on the antifungal slowed to next to nothing, it was hard to feel like anything they were doing was helping. What use was taking this Bajoran’s blood pressure, when he could be dead tomorrow along with the rest of the crew?

Kirith tried his best to ignore this sentiment, despite its pervasiveness, and turned his gaze back to the newest patient. According to his PADD, she was the head nurse. He certainly didn’t envy her job. If Kirith was honest, she didn’t look like she could handle the job before she became this unconscious frame on a biobed. Her hair was silver and coarse, winding about her head like a halo splayed out on the pillow. The wrinkles in her papery skin were deep, probably deeper now that she was sick. Kirith could barely see her breathing.

He looked up at the readings on her biomonitor and began recording them in her file on his PADD. High blood pressure, low heart rate– low? Kirith looked back up at the monitor. Usually, the patient’s heart rate was almost dangerously high. But he hadn’t been mistaken, her heart rate indicator was hovering just a couple centimeters off the bottom of the register. That almost certainly should have set off an alarm, but who would have heard it over all this racket? Kirith turned to call for a doctor, someone qualified, when he did hear an alarm. He jumped and turned back to the monitor just in time to see the blood pressure indicator drop straight down the register. 

The nurse gasped in her bed, mouth gaping in an attempt to suck oxygen into her lungs. The indicators on her monitor all began to plunge with her blood pressure. Her back arched in the bed, hands clutching at her sheets as her eyes rolled back. Kirith thought he could see tendrils of fungus clogging her mouth and nose. She was missing teeth. Kirith stepped backward, feeling his stomach turn. Why didn’t anyone notice? Why wasn’t anyone coming to help? Kirith thought he tried to call for Syfic, but the only sound that came out was a low wine in the back of his throat. The woman’s thrashing gradually slowed and then finally stopped. Her indicators sat at the bottom of the monitor, deceptively peaceful. 

Kirith saw motion vaguely in his peripheral vision and now someone was leaning over the woman in the bed, injecting hyposprays and shouting orders. Kirith wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. Were they talking to him? A hand on his shoulder and someone was in front of him. Kirith forced his eyes to focus. A Tellarite officer in a rumpled blue uniform stood in front of him, shaking him slightly. 

“Snap out of it and help ”

“--Yes sir.” 

Syfic stood next to the woman, holding her wrists against the bed. The Tellarite dragged Kirith closer. “Hold her head.”

Kirith obeyed, putting one hand on either side of the woman’s head to hold her still. The Tellarite loaded a hypospray and handed it to Syfic, holding the wrist the Doctor let go of to inject the medicine. As whatever was in the hypo hit the woman’s system she began to jerk and froth at the mouth. Saliva slid down her cheek, tinged yellow with fungus. It dripped hot and sticky onto Kirith’s hand. He closed his eyes and waited for the woman’s movements to cease. Eventually they did. Kirith carefully opened his eyes and looked up.

Syfic was still staring down at the patient. The Tellarite shook their head and let go of her wrist. Kirith took that as permission to let go of the nurse’s head and wipe his hands on his uniform. The head nurse’s body lay motionless in front of him, bulging eyes staring vacantly up at the ceiling. Harley’s face flashed into Kirith’s mind. Harley lying there on his floor, being taken away from him by a stranger's hands. Would this happen to him too? How long did Kirith have until his only real friend died in front of him just like this? 

There was a stretch of silence before the doctor looked up. His eyes were dark, and he addressed the Tellarite. “Teghe, inform the captain that we have our first casualty.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Shrith paced back and forth across the science wing of sickbay. Alarms blared from the other side of the open door, but she paid them no mind. The room’s many lab tables were all occupied. On the left side of the room, lines of science officers sat hunched over data PADDs and tricorders, busy with the antifungal solution. On the right, the tables had been converted into makeshift beds, thin sheets being the only barrier between sick patients and the tabletops. These patients had been deemed stable for the moment, and didn’t need restraints. Or at least, that had been the idea, but now with so many patients to handle, makeshift arm and leg cuffs had been added to the tables nearest the door. The weak thrashing of the restrained patients made it hard to think, but Shrith wasn’t going to let that stop her. 

She reached the back wall of the room and turned on her heel again, retracing her steps. The fungus attacked and consumed the brain of its victims to survive. That was established, but so far, the antifungals proved useless. Once the patient started showing symptoms, there was just too much fungus already present for the medication to eradicate. So, what else killed the fungus? Shrith had never seen the fungus dead except for their oldest samples on the lab tables, and the last withering stalks of the Saucarron mammal’s infection. So, the fungus couldn’t survive without a host. That wasn’t very helpful, was it? If they could find a way to remove the fungus from the patient, they wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place. And they couldn’t very well kill the patient and wait for the fungus to die, could they?

Shrith stopped pacing. Could they? The fungus couldn’t survive without a host– but specifically without the host’s brain waves . If they could just make the brain waves of the host go away for a day or two, presumably the fungus would end up like the sample behind the containment field. Withered and weakened. And in its weakened state, perhaps the antifungal would be able to work its magic. 

Shrith clapped her hands, drawing the attention of the science staff away from their studies. “I’ve got it!” She tapped her combadge. “Lieutenant Commander Shrithao to Captain Jirillu.”

“Jirillu here, what’s up?”

The captain didn’t sound very happy, but Shrith dismissed it. Everyone was unhappy right now. “Captain, I think I’ve figured out how to fix this.”

“Oh, thank god. I was about to call an emergency meeting anyway.”

“What? Why?”

“The head nurse just passed away. You didn’t know?”

Shrith’s heart sank. Was that what all the alarms had been about? If only she had thought a little bit quicker, this wouldn’t have happened. If only she had seen the hole in the containment chamber. If only, if only. The only thing to do now was to minimize the damage and try not to lose anyone else. “No, I didn’t know.” Shrith’s antennae drooped slightly. “...I’ll see you at the meeting, Shrith out.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Good news and bad news.”

Shrith looked up at the captain as he spoke. 

Phishi leaned forward on her elbows, brown gaze flicking over the rest of the crew around the conference table “Bad news first.”

Jirillu glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and nodded. “All right. Bad news: Our head nurse, Sky, passed away earlier today, due to the infection.” The table was silent for a moment. Evidently this was news to some. Shrith glanced at Kirith next to her, who looked a few shades too pale. She nudged him and curled her antennae forward, a silent question. Are you okay? 

Kirith’s antennae twitched toward her slightly, but he didn’t otherwise seem to have registered her movement. Shrith frowned and turned her attention back to the captain.

Jirillu had begun addressing Doctor Syfic, presumably about the nurse’s death. "Do you have any additional information about the circumstances?”

Syfic looked up from the table, seeming unsure where to start. He fidgeted with the edge of one glove and lowered his gaze as he spoke. “The lieutenant died due to cardiovascular complications, likely as a result of the strain of fighting infection. The fungus had also entered her respiratory system and lowered her blood-oxygen levels, further weakening her heart. It is unlikely for a similar event to occur in an otherwise healthy individual. The lieutenant’s age put her at higher risk.” Syfic looked around briefly, as if to confirm he had said all he needed to, then resumed his blank gaze at the featureless table. 

Jirillu continued. “That is a bit of good news, but we have even better news, thanks to Shrithao here. She believes she has found a treatment for the infections.”

Shrith shifted in her seat under the eyes of the senior officers. She glanced at Kirith again for reassurance, but he didn’t seem to notice the change in tone of the table. Shrith took a breath and cleared her throat. “The fungus survives and grows by feeding off the host’s brainwaves. I believe that if we put the host in stasis, we can starve the fungus. It would only take a few days for the fungus to weaken enough for our existing antifungal to wipe it out.” Shrith clasped her hands in her lap to keep them from shaking. She’d spoken in front of the senior officers before, but this was way different. This was life or death. 

Syfic tilted his head to one side, without looking up from the table. “If we keep the stasis under three days' time, side effects should be minimal.”

“Then we can proceed?” Jirillu looked between Shrith and the doctor, eyes bright. 

Syfic nodded carefully. “I don’t see a reason not to at the present moment.”

“Excellent. Best of luck to you.”

The officers began to stand and file out of the conference room, each a little more cheerful than they had seemed coming in. Shrith felt a burst of pride in her chest that she had contributed to that. Her idea was going to save the crew. She stood from her seat and offered a hand to Kirith to help him up. She was a bit surprised when he took it, but he hadn’t seemed right since the start of the meeting anyway. He looked distant even now. She squeezed his hand gently, then let go. She started to leave, but the captain called her back. 

“Shrithao.”

Shrith stopped and turned, antennae curving forward. “Captain?”

She could tell he was smiling behind his mask. “Good work”

Shrith felt her cheeks flush blue, and she ducked her head. “Thank you.” She turned back at Jirillu’s nod and hurried down the hall to catch up to Kirith. She thought she saw the Inspector slip into the room as she left, but she paid it no mind. Her captain believed she could save her crew, and so did she.

~~~~~~~~~~

Kirith sat in the uncomfortable sickbay chair and waited. It seemed like all he did now was wait. With so many patients now in their medically induced comas, they didn’t need as many volunteers, and suddenly his regular shift on the bridge left him with all too much time to think about things he’d rather forget Unfortunately the only person who didn’t keep bringing it up was Harley, but then, he wasn’t saying much of anything at the moment.

Harley’s silence was everywhere now. The empty chair at conferences, the stranger at the communications station, walking to 10-forward alone. And then this deceptively peaceful sleeping body in sickbay. Harley’s copper hair curled in ringlets on the pillow, disheveled from the straps of his mask.

Kirith tugged off his translator and pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes, letting the translator hang from his fingers by the wire. He wished he could draw or paint, just to do something useful with this feeling, but all his sketchbooks were filled with Harley. For once, he wished his pictures weren’t so life-like.

There was a harsh rattling sound as the privacy curtain was pushed aside behind Kirith. He jumped and sat up, attaching his translators behind his ear beneath his uniform collar. Doctor Syfic stood there, patiently watching him for a moment before speaking. 

“Lieutenant Castillo has cleared the fungus from his system. The doctor moved toward Harley’s monitor. “It is time to bring him out of stasis.”

Kirith stood quickly, ignoring the dizziness.

The doctor pulled at his gloves slightly. “It would be wise to not over excite yourself. He may not be fully coherent immediately.”

Kirith shook his head. “I know that.” 

The doctor dipped his head and pressed a few buttons on Harley’s monitor. The stasis field shimmered as it dissolved and Kirith stepped forward, trying to follow the doctor’s advice and not get his hopes up too high.

Harley’s eyelids fluttered after a moment and he blinked, brow furrowing slightly. Doctor Syfic scanned Harley with a tricorder, then nodded and withdrew, seeming to deem Harley well. Harley turned his head to follow the doctor as he left.

Kirith reached out and touched Harley’s shoulder to get his attention. He still seemed a bit dazed, but his gaze cleared slightly when he caught sight of Kirith. “... Good morning?”

Kirith felt his breath quicken as the memory of that woman’s death finally faded to the back of his mind. Harley was here. He was awake and he was okay and finally it was all over. Finally, he could leave this awful place and all the awful memories behind.

Harley pushed himself upright with some effort. “Kirith? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.” Kirith’s antennae curled happily. “Everything’s okay again.”

Chapter Text

Phishi waited outside the conference room for Jirillu to finish talking with Shrith. She was glad it looked like they were getting closer to a treatment for the fungus. She had just about had it with these masks. She had to specially replicate ones that wrapped around her head, instead of looping over her ears, but they were not any more tolerable. More tolerable than dying in sickbay though, she supposed.

Phishi started back toward the door to the conference room once Shrithao emerged but was stopped again by the inspector coming down the hall. She sighed and stepped back again, letting the inspector duck into the conference room instead. Once he was well inside, Phishi moved closer to the door, stepping lightly to keep quiet. She stopped once the voices inside grew clear and settled down into a squat to listen. 

“I hope you know I am making a full report to Starfleet Command about this incident.” Phishi frowned at Inspector Mecim’s voice.

“That is your job.” Phishi had to give Jirillu credit for not sounding too irritated. She would probably not do as well at hiding it.

“Yes. Including the blatant misconduct with your quarantine procedures. I am recommending the termination of the Starfleet positions of both of your head science officers, your security chief, and anyone involved in all security checks made since you left spacedock. And hopefully the termination of your position as well, though I doubt they’ll trust my judgment on that.”

Phishi caught her breath. It was a moment before Jirillu spoke.

“...Mecim, don’t do this.”

“As you said— this is my job.”

“No, this is revenge. And it’s petty. Whatever happened back then was a long time ago, there’s no need to–”

“Of course there’s no need.” Phishi could hear the grin in Mecim’s voice. “There doesn’t have to be a need for any of this if you only… make up for ‘whatever happened.’”

Phishi stood slowly. This was starting to sound much too close to blackmail for her liking.

Jirillu seemed to hesitate. “What would you have me do?”

“Oh, I think you are very well aware of what I want from you.” 

All right, that was enough. Phishi straightened her uniform and stepped into the room, kicking one shoe against the doorframe as she did so. She stopped short and feigned surprise at the conversation she had walked in on. “Oh– I’m sorry if I’m interrupting Inspector, Captain, but I’m afraid I have this room reserved for the next half hour.”

The Inspector flushed red and turned sharply on his heel. “I’m afraid you’ll have to wait.”

“Oh, I don’t think so. Ship’s protocol, you know.” Phishi glanced at Jirillu over Mecim’s shoulder. He was backed up against the table and wouldn’t meet her eyes. A wave of anger flooded through her, and she grabbed the inspector by the wrist and spoke through her “You’ve overstayed your welcome.”

Mecim put his hands up in surrender, shaking Phishi’s hand free. “Okay, okay.” He walked back toward the door but turned around in the threshold, addressing Jirillu again. “I’ll be submitting that report, Captain. I look forward to hearing their response.”

“Out.” Phishi took two steps toward the inspector, which was enough to convince him to retreat completely. The doors swished shut behind him. Phishi turned back around and crossed the room to Jirillu, who seemed to have crumpled in on himself. His gaze flitted about nervously but never left the floor. Phishi started to touch his arm but stopped and withdrew. “Hey.”

Jirillu pulled away from her slightly, but there wasn’t much space for him to do so, with his back to the conference table. Phishi took a step backward instead. “Alright, take a minute.”

Jirillu fidgeted with his hands and looked up. “I swear I didn’t make him do that.”

“Of course you didn’t.” Phishi crossed her arms.

Jirillu sighed. “All right then.” He straightened and tugged on his braids. “I assume you heard all of that. What do we do?”

Phishi shook her head. “The question is what can we do? We can’t stop him from submitting the report, we can’t stop Starfleet from following his advice. We can try to minimize damage.” She paced the floor of the conference room. “If we’re careful we can keep them from removing you from command.”

Jirillu froze. “Wait– no. Phishi, we don’t even know what’s going to happen. I'm not going throw anyone under the bus to save my career." He sighed and pulled on his braids again. "Let's just... let's just wait and see.”

“Wait and see.” 

“Yes.”