The Sky's the Limit - Marco Palmieri [37]
The medical staff was buzzing with questions and speculation. Two of the technicians lifted the creature onto a table and began examining it. Pulaski hit her combadge and called the bridge.
“Picard here.”
“Captain, we’ve captured one of the intruders. It broke into sickbay. Apparently, they’re vulnerable to our anesthetics. I recommend we use that in engineering.”
She could hear some muffled orders on the bridge, and then La Forge’s voice crackled over the communications link. “La Forge here, Captain.”
“Mister La Forge, Doctor Pulaski has determined that the intruders are vulnerable to anesthetics. Is there any way of restoring the intruder control system from your current location?”
“Negative, Captain. The breach in the hull threw the entire system off-line. We’re going to have to do something else.”
“Geordi, if we transported sprayers into the middle of engineering, do you think that would work?” Pulaski asked.
“Good idea, Doctor. Yes, if you could have O’Brien deposit them in some specific spots on Decks 32, 34, and 39, we could flood the engineering section with the gas.”
Pulaski did a few mental calculations, then tapped her combadge again. “Whoa, whoa! How much anesthetic do you think we have on board? It’ll take a while to synthesize that much.”
There was a pause, then Geordi’s voice came back on-line. “Okay, how about enough for Decks 32 and 34? If we can secure those areas, we can cut off any stragglers from their ship.”
An unfamiliar voice broke in on the channel, cutting off Pulaski’s reply. “Lieutenant La Forge, what about the aerators we were going to drop off on Lennix IV? They’re meant to spread liquid fertilizer over a couple of hectares. It wouldn’t take much to convert those things for the doc.”
The relief in Geordi’s voice was obvious. “Great idea, Duff. Can you get those to the transporter room?”
“Consider it done. I’ll meet the doc there.”
Captain Picard came back on line, his voice conveying a confidence that Pulaski certainly didn’t feel. “Mister La Forge, Doctor Pulaski, sounds like you have your work cut out for you. Keep me informed with your progress.”
“Captain, before you go, there’s something else you need to know.”
“Yes, Doctor?”
“The aliens, they’re not where we see them. It’s like we’re seeing them in time delay. When we captured the intruder, we heard his body hit the floor several meters from where he was at the time. Advise security to set their phasers on the widest beam possible.”
“Time delay?”
“I think we’re seeing afterimages, like with a distant star. We don’t see where it is, just where it was. Same with the intruders, although I can’t tell you why yet. Maybe our examination will turn up something.”
“Mister Worf will pass that on to security. Good luck with your mission, Doctor.”
With your shield or upon it, eh, Captain? Fine. Pulaski pointed to a couple of the technicians in the sickbay. “You two, start working on synthesizing more anesthezine. Blake, contact main sickbay and have Ogawa get started making some up there. Bring it to transporter room 2 as soon as you’re done. I’m going to go ahead and see what I can do to help with those aerators.”
Pulaski stood by one of the portable monitors that had been brought to transporter room 2. They’d jury-rigged a visual feed from engineering, and La Forge was helping them decide where to send the aerator for his section.
Chief O’Brien flipped a switch on the transporter console, activating the voice communicator. “Lieutenant La Forge, we’re ready to begin transport. I’d advise finding an emergency oxygen mask unless you want to wake up with a heck of a headache.”
“Understood, Chief. Good luck.”
“Thanks, sir. Energizing in thirty seconds.”
As the countdown commenced, Pulaski shook her head as the engineers congratulated themselves on the conversion of the aerators into gas bombs. The lieutenant in charge grinned like