Articles of the Federation - Keith R. A. DeCandido [113]
“Not straight,” Morrow said, “but it’s a short jump from what happened last week to this.”
“Regardless of the reasons, this has just become a major interstellar incident, if it wasn’t already, and I need you guys to tell me you’ve made some progress.”
“Not much,” Emmanuelli said with a sigh. “We’ve stabilized them, but their nervous systems have practically gone inactive.”
“Can we send them back to Trinni/ek?”
“I’m not entirely sure.”
“Actually,” DeSoto said, “we may have something.”
“We do?” Morrow said with surprise.
P’Trell then spoke up. A Caitian, he nonetheless had an Andorian honorific for a physician. Morrow wondered what the story there was, but now wasn’t the time to ask. P’Trell said, “This morning, I ran a second search to see if there were any similar cases. I was aware that Catherine had already run such a search last week, but I thought it should be tried again, with wider search parameters.”
“And you found something?” Morrow asked, then realized it was unnecessary. I’m letting this get to me.
“Yes, although not because of my expanded parameters, but rather because a similar case has been entered into the records since Catherine’s check last week.”
Papadimitriou smirked. “I wasn’t offended, Ghee. Honestly, I was hoping you’d find something I missed.”
“Where was this case?” Esperanza asked, getting everyone back on track.
“That’s the fun part,” DeSoto said. “It was on the Io.”
Morrow blinked. “Their nervous systems have shut down?”
“Not quite,” Papadimitriou said. “Just the opposite.”
Still confused, Morrow started, “I don’t- “
Emmanuelli came to his rescue. “As far as we can tell, the peripheral nervous systems of the Trinni/ek are operating at a lower level than they should, not reacting to stimulus properly. The Io crew, including Captain T’Vrea, are suffering from the exact opposite problem: their peripheral nervous systems are overloaded, being stimulated all out of proportion to their surroundings.”
Papadimitriou added, “They’re losing control of their motor functions-arms flailing, legs buckling, joints turning, all for no good reason.”
DeSoto said, “So we contacted the Io and their chief engineer-who is, by the way, the only senior officer on the ship who’s not incapacitated, and she’s still pretty sick-and they did a long-range scan of the one thing that both cases have in common.”
“Trinni/ek.”
Nodding to Esperanza, DeSoto said, “That’s right.”
Papadimitriou picked up the ball. “Based on the Io’s scans, their sun gives off some kind of magnetic field that plays merry hell with the peripheral nervous systems of most carbon-based life-forms. The Io chief engineer’s a Nasat, and they’re more resistant to that kind of tampering.”
“I don’t get it,” Esperanza said, “if it’s so inimical- “
P’Trell said, “The Trinni/ek developed an immunity to the magnetic field that eventually grew into a dependency. They were able to adjust to the field, to the point where they can’t live without it. Their PNSes have grown sufficiently accustomed to the extra stimulus that it’s how it has to function.”
Morrow nodded, as several conversations with Ytri/ol and other Trinni/ek came back to him. “That actually fits. Esperanza, remember that collection of folktales they sent us?”
Esperanza frowned a moment. “Oh, right, the legends about the landers.”
“Landers?” DeSoto asked.
“The Trinni/ek aren’t from that solar system,” Morrow said. “Their ancestors left their homeworld when their sun was about to go nova. They don’t have a lot of records from the time of the landers-the people who first colonized the world-because the early days were so difficult, and they were more concerned with surviving in their new home.”
Emmanuelli whistled. “If they had to go through what the Io crew’s going through now, I can see why keeping records wasn’t high on their list of things to do.”
P’Trell nodded. “The adjustment period would have been lengthy and brutal.”
“All right then, someone please tell me that the solution is as simple as letting them go home.”
Smiling, Papadimitriou