The Eyes of the Beholders - A. C. Crispin [34]
The captain spoke to the air. “Doctor Crusher, this is the captain. What is Counselor Troi’s condition?”
“Physically she’s unharmed, but I’ve had to sedate her to blunt the effects of having the Marco Polo’s crew at such close proximity,” the chief medical officer replied. “Apparently many of them are insane. Sir, how soon can we beam a rescue team over?”
“Doctor, I am approving your request for a medical team to help the survivors aboard the Marco Polo,” Picard replied formally. “However, as chief medical officer, I want you to remain here. If this … dream illness, mental plague, whatever it is, should invade the Enterprise, I will need you above all others, thus I can’t afford to risk you. Can you recommend someone to head the emergency medical team? Preferably someone who is extremely … stable.”
“Lieutenant Selar, Captain. She’s a Vulcan. Need I say more?”
“No indeed. An excellent choice. Have the lieutenant and your emergency team join Lieutenant Worf and his security people in Transporter Room 3 as soon as possible.”
“Yes, Captain,” she replied briskly.
Having half expected her to argue with him about wanting to lead the medical team personally, Jean-Luc Picard breathed a silent sigh of relief.
Selar was on her way to Thala’s cabin to talk to the Andorian child when the summons from the chief medical officer reached her. “Lieutenant Selar here,” she said, touching her communicator.
“Selar, I’ve recommended you to lead the medical team for the rescue party that will board the Marco Polo,” Beverly Crusher said. “Counselor Troi reported that the crew was experiencing some kind of mass mental disorder. We’re having trouble getting accurate readings because of the energy field the alien structure is emitting, but, as far as we can determine, there are seventeen humans alive over there, most apparently unconscious, but a few who are still ambulatory and may be violent. If you beam over with a security party, how many of our people will you require to stabilize those patients, then transport them back to the Enterprise?”
Selar made a quick mental calculation, then spoke with barely a pause. “Myself and six others.”
“Whom would you recommend for your team?”
“Doctors Logan and Chandra,” Selar said immediately. “Also Nurse Johnson, Nurse Selinski, Doctor Gavar, if she will volunteer to serve on this mission, and Nurse Itoh.”
“I don’t know about Chandra,” Crusher objected. “She’s pretty far along with her pregnancy. If there is some kind of malign mental force over there, what could it do to a fetus?”
Selar nodded. “A good point. Very well, I request Doctor Grunewalt instead.”
“Approved. I’ll have them assemble in sickbay immediately.”
“I am on my way,” Selar said, and she tapped her communicator to close the channel. Quickly, she turned back toward the turbolift, wondering if there would be time to ask Beverly to check on Thala while she was gone with the rescue party. She hadn’t seen the child since her emotional outburst yesterday, and she was concerned.
“Selar! Wait!” A familiar voice broke into her thoughts.
“Lift hold,” the Vulcan commanded, and a second later Thala flung herself through the doors, panting hard, obviously having run to catch her. “I was just on my way to see you,” Selar told the little Andorian girl. “However, our visit will have to wait until later. I have just been ordered to take a medical team over to the Marco Polo.”
Thala’s small blue features were pinched with anxiety. “Selar, what’s going on, anyway? Everyone says all the ports are dark! Is the ship in some kind of danger?” She swallowed hard. “Have the Borgs come back?”
“We are trillions of kilometers away from Borg space,” Selar said reassuringly. “No, our current situation does not involve them.”
The child relaxed slightly. “Then what’s going on?”
“I have not yet been fully briefed,” replied Selar truthfully. “And I probably could not discuss what I knew if I had. But I do not believe we are in any immediate peril. After all,” she pointed out reasonably, “Captain