Lost Era 06_ Catalyst of Sorrows - Margaret Wander Bonanno [3]
“Demographics of the victims so far?” Uhura asked, jotting notes on a padd for a memo to her Listeners on the ships that patrolled the Zone.
“Thirty-one Vulcan, twenty-three Rigelian, nineteen human.”
“All fatal?”
“Affirmative.”
“Did they infect anyone else?”
“Unknown at present, Admiral. All of the Rigelians were from the same extended family, but the Vulcan and human casualties were isolated and, apparently, unknown to each other. The last confirmed case occurred three weeks ago, so it is assumed the current outbreak was self-contained.”
“Which is not to say that there couldn’t be further outbreaks,” Beverly Crusher chimed in from the other screen on a three-way conference call. She was across town from Uhura at Starfleet Medical HQ; Selar was parsecs away aboard a Vulcan research vessel on its way to Earth from the Beta Quadrant. “It could be something geographic, something seasonal or cyclical, something that occurs every few years or even centuries.”
“And except for the Rigelians, none of them knew each other?” Uhura said. “Traveled between worlds? Had a friend or relative in common? Ordered supplies from the same source? Ate at the same restaurant?”
“Admiral,” Selar said, “may I respectfully point out that we do not yet know, purely on symptomatology, whether this is the same illness in each case?”
“I realize that, but-“
“Nevertheless, I am attempting to establish a commonality among the victims,” the Vulcan physician added primly. “As for ordering supplies from offworld, irradiation procedures at point of origin and point of arrival would have precluded the possibility of any known disease organism-“
“I know, Selar.” Uhura sighed. “It’s the unknown disease organisms I’m concerned about. Dr. Crusher, suggestions?”
“I’d suggest Selar expand her algorithm to include all Federation worlds.” On her screen, the Vulcan nodded, unperturbed by the amount of extra work this would require. “In the meantime, I’ll need tissue samples, or at least readouts, from as many of those seventy-three cases as possible to run a comparison. I’m still trying to isolate an organism in the samples you gave me from… the other side. There isn’t very much to go on. I’m doing my best.”
“I’d expected nothing less,” Uhura said warmly. “Carry on, Doctors. Keep me informed.”
“My people are already working on it,” she told McCoy now, preparing a data-squirt about “it” even as she spoke. Her talented fingers ticked over the controls like a concert pianist’s. “There’s this weird fever that’s been cropping up in some of the colonies. Starfleet Medical thinks it might be similar to something that my sources tell me may be happening inside the Romulan Empire. I’m sending you the readout now.”
“Readout on what?” McCoy demanded, intrigued in spite of himself.
“Medical’s initial analysis of Romulan tissue samples,” Uhura said concisely.
“Did I hear you say ‘Romulan’?” McCoy asked. “My God, that’s not a word I thought I’d hear again within my lifetime! How the hell did you-?”
“Not at liberty to say,” she replied. “Not even on Scramble.”
“That hot, huh?”
I’ve got him! Uhura thought. He can’t resist a mystery. As soon as he sees this data…
“Let’s just say there could be… political ramifications. The colonies affected are very near the Neutral Zone.”
“Cloak and dagger stuff,” McCoy muttered. “Your bailiwick, not mine. All the more reason why my answer’s still no.”
Just then Uhura’s Andorian aide stuck her head through the door, antennae twitching, whispering, “Admiral? You’ll be late.”
Uhura waved her away. “The class is not till 10:00, Thysis. I’ve still got thirty minutes.”
Uhura’s lifelong ambition was to be able to do one thing, just one thing, at a time. As if this were the only crisis on her desk-! As if she didn’t have to monitor hotspots across the quadrant, know the whereabouts of every one of her operatives at any given time, not to mention staying awake at staff meetings and-
“It’s not just the class,” the Andorian hissed. “You have a press conference scheduled