A Call to Darkness - Michael Jan Friedman [89]
Burtin looked a hell of a lot more determined than Riker had ever seen him. His words were clipped, insistent: “We’ve got to talk, Commander.”
“Certainly,” said Riker. He indicated the observation lounge and they both stepped inside.
Burtin didn’t bother to take a seat, so Riker didn’t either. They stood beside the conference table, and even the gentleness of the lighting didn’t soften the lines in Burtin’s face.
“You know,” said the doctor, “for a long time, I was in awe of this assignment. Kate Pulaski, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, the Enterprise-these are names you hear about. Read about. You don’t get to see them up close-especially if you’re only a bone-splicer out on the frontier.
“Out there, Commander, we take every little sickness seriously-and I mean seriously. I know that’s not the case here. You’ve got the latest technology-the latest equipment, the latest medicines. And you’ve got the best-trained personnel. So when a little old disease comes along, you don’t panic. You just take care of it.
“I figured that that’s what I would do. I mean, Doctor Pulaski wasn’t all that frantic about Fredi’s ailment. Concerned, yes, but far from frantic. So I tried to take it in stride-as I thought she would have. Even when the godforsaken thing mutated. I tried to act as I thought the assistant chief medical officer of this ship should act. I got to work on the problem-and I didn’t make an uproar about it.
“Then it got worse. It started spreading. But did I rock the boat? No. I calmly apprised the ranking officer of the situation. I calmly recommended a course of action. I only gave in to my instincts in one regardI recorded my misgivings for the record, despite the fact that I thought I’d ultimately be laughed at. ‘Hey, look at this-some crazy quack dragged the Enterprise to a starbase because two people on the ship got sick. Amazing. Didn’t he know he wasn’t on the frontier anymore?’
“Now I see that I didn’t go too far at all. If I made a mistake, it was in not going far enough. We’ve got seventeen patients now. Every available blood-purification unit is in constant use. Critical care is completely engaged-we’re spilling over into the less secure areas, having rigged up portable field generators to maintain the quarantine.
“It’s gone too far, Commander. I can’t state that strongly enough. Twenty-four hours from now, we’ll see twice as many cases-and twice as many again twenty-four hours after that. By then, of course, you and I will probably be among the afflicted.” Burtin paused. “The nearest starbase is six days away at warp nine. I checked. In six days, half the population of the Enterprise could be writhing in the corridors, gasping for breath.”
He took a deep breath, let it out. “Strangely enough, I still feel as though I shouldn’t panic. But I am panicking, Commander. I want this ship headed for Starbase Ninety-One- now. And I don’t care if we leave behind that away team or not.”
Riker frowned. Was that what he was doing? Sacrificing the many for the few? Or was he keeping a cool head-knowing that medical officers always painted the worst picture possible, and that things seldom turned out as badly as they predicted?
Finally, he shook his head. “I gave Data two full days. I can’t leave before then. I’m not discounting what you’re saying, Doctor-believe me, I’m not. But I can’t just abandon our people down there without giving them a chance.”
Burtin’s eyes narrowed, and he nodded. “It’s your choice, Commander. That is, until you come down with the disease yourself-at which time I have every intention of relieving you of your command.” And with that, he headed for the exit.
As the lounge doors opened, Burtin turned again-as if he had thought of something else to say. But he was interrupted by the commotion outside, on the bridge.
Both men were spurred to action. The first officer, a little quicker, was only a step behind the doctor as they emerged…