Ethics Pt 2

Posted on Monday, 16 November 2020 - 12:50pm by Petty Officer 1st Class Siana Ilian

Mission: Operation: Ouroboros
Location: Jupiter Station
Timeline: MD2

"Petty officer Deeson?"

Until someone said her name, Siana Deeson had been hoping the old saying was true about no news being a good thing. And in the hour so she had been in the waiting room, the woman had often abandoned her seat to resume pacing the same small patch of floor in the windowless room. Already she had studied all of the bright and colourful pictures, signed by the artists in a childish scrawl along with their age, yet no amount of rainbows and kittens and who knew what that fuzzy monster was meant to be, was able to really lift her spirits.

The wait was made worse every time she heard anyone approaching the room. Each time she would stop, hold her breath, and steel herself for the worst. Until now, however, the unseen person had carried on past the room. Other than that occasional interruption to her reverie, she had been quite alone.

Turning towards the sound of the voice, she came face to face with a man in surgical scrubs that seemed to hang off his tall thin frame. His face was completely and utterly unreadable, a perfect poker face. Was that good or bad, she wondered? When she nodded to confirm he had the right person, he moved further into the room, gesturing for her to sit as he took an adjacent seat.

"Apologies for the wait. I'm Doctor Murray," he offered with a small smile. "I'm one of the surgeons here on Jupiter Station."

Sliding into the seat, the petty officer simply nodded. Somehow, hearing this man was a surgeon made her heart sink further in her chest, fuelling a growing realisation that whatever was wrong with Ilian was even worse than she imagined. "How... how is he?"

"Comfortable. For now. Before I say more, I need to know your relationship to him?"

That was a complicated question. "We were friends. He has known my family - Ilian has - for a long time," she figured that was a nice, succinct way to sum it up. "We were supposed to go for dinner tonight, actually."

Dr Murray smiled softly, "alright. Well, what I can tell you is very limited, as I'm sure you will appreciated. However, the situation is complex and at the moment I have two patients and I'm running out of time and options."

Siana frowned, "I don't follow..."

"The symbiont. We had to remove it from the host for it to have any chance of survival," the medic explained, seeing the realisation in the woman's face. "I am sure you are aware of how little time it gives us. We have been in contact with our colleagues on Trill and they are consulting but Ilian is not a young symbiote, and ill health from the former host has taken a toll. We may have to look for alternatives."

"Alternative hosts?" Siana blurted out, beginning to realise where he was going.

Murray nodded. "Yes. To be blunt, we do not have the luxury of time. We have a couple of hours at most, but the sooner the better. We are not exactly overrun with unjoined Trills. Just from a review of psychological and physical evaluations, most of them have been deemed shall we say, unsuitable? Your name was top of the list of viable candidates."

"That must have been some shortlist," Siana breathed as she sank back in the seat. "People prepare for years..."

"We have a counsellor on board you can speak to?"

"Is she Trill?"

"No -"

"I don't think she'll really grasp the situation..."

"But she can listen," he pointed out calmly. "Or I can contact your own ship's counsellor?"

She guessed Vali had to be good with weird by now. Maybe it would help? She nodded, watching as he stood up and headed for the door. "I know this is a huge decision," he admitted as he paused in the doorway, "but I need to know your answer in an hour. After that we move on to plan B."

Siana arched an eyebrow, wondering if Plan B had the name Grol.

OFF