Autopsy for Answers

Posted on Wed Dec 27th, 2017 @ 10:07am by Fleet Admiral Donatella Figueroa & Commander K'Niras Sh'howul & Lieutenant Aeryn Vinia & Lieutenant Junior Grade Robert "Rob" Grey

Mission: S01E02 D-8 With the Devil
Location: USS Musashi | Sickbay

What in the blazing stars is going on? questioned the Captain, privately to herself as she rode the lift down to the medical deck. She was Sickbay bound, though not for any personal reasons. This was not a check up at all. It was a quest for answers. Answers to a dozen or more questions that had been raised in the past... What has it been? Only two hours?. Yes, it had been roughly two hours time since she took several members of the crew down to the psychiatric facility to meet with the former Fleet Captain Garth of Izar, now nothing more than an empty psychotic shell of a man that he used to be.

A separate boarding party had been sent over to the non-responsive transit facility to see if they needed help or required assistance in making repairs to their communications. The dead silence the Musashi had received was apparently for a reason. The keyword in 'dead silence' was the dead part. The entire complement of the facility albeit only a few good souls had been slaughtered. A wild creature, a Vulcan Le-matya had somehow been released aboard the station and killed everyone aboard. Consoles were damaged so severely. The Musashi was able to upload some information, but files were damaged and encrypted... but a Le-matya could not encrypt a damn thing. They were not 'sentient' on that level.

The boarding party had returned to the starship, bringing along with them a corpse. The Captain was not alone in the lift. She was was traveling down to sickbay with two others: Lieutenant K'Niras whom had been aboard the transit facility leading the boarding party, and Lieutenant Aeryn Vinia, a nurse from the Elba II psychiatric rehabilitation center where Captain Garth was a patient. The Captain had met her only within the past hour when at the center. The nurse had already proven herself quite valuable and Captain Figueroa was already contemplating offering her a position aboard the USS Musashi. Fig wanted her. The Musashi's Medical Department had never been entirely filled since it was released from the Tellar repair yards. They briefly had Nurse Stephens aboard, but the young man had since departed.

The lift was just about to reach the designated deck when Fig turned to her Second Officer, the Chief Communications Officer. “Lieutenant, I will need that mission report as soon as possible. The brass will be breathing down my neck for answers,” she said with a sigh. “Just a damn routine little excursion to see Garth and this is what happens,” she added shaking her head.

K'Niras nodded, his tail bobbing up and down behind him. It was nice to be back on the ship, although he wondered what they were going to do with the Le-matya that they had found, but that was a question for another time. "It is almost finished as it stands, sir. Just waiting for these last few loose ends."

Looking over to her other side, the Captain addressed their guest. “Nurse Vinia, I appreciate you coming aboard the Musashi to lend a hand. Our Medical compliment is very few. We need all the help we can get, especially with something like this,” she explained.

"My pleasure captain. I welcome the change from the center. I dont have to watch my back here." Vinia grinned over at the captain.

The lift reached its designated deck. The doors slid open in a whoosh and the sterile scent of the deck with its rather fresh coat of paint and the scent of antiseptic from Sickbay produced an odd aroma. “Not quite the aroma-therapy my grandmother would recommend,” commented the Captain as the trio proceeded down the corridor and hung a left. They then proceeded to towards the doors marked Sickbay. The doors slid open and they were soon greeted by one of the most recent additions to Musashi's crew, Lieutenant Robert Grey. Grey was a medical officer with high hopes and a bright future ahead.

“Lieutenant Grey,” the Captain said, addressing the man. “This is Nurse Vinia from the Elba II Psychiatric Center, she's temporary on loan to us. I have brought her aboard to handle to autopsy and assist with finding some answers about what happened on the orbital transit facility,” explained the Captain as she made the quick introductions.

Startled, Grey stood to attention as the commanding officer addressed him. "Greetings, Captain." He eyed the nurse with suspicion. "Nice to meet you Nurse Vinia. I am Lt. Rob Grey." He extended his hand. Things on the ship seemed to go quickly from the day he arrived to where was at now. The pace of the modern star ship excelled far quicker than any thing on a star base ever did. His feet had not touched the ground so to speak. At this point the sick bay was already a hive of activity as there were several incidents on the go at the same time.

Rob didn't want to hold the captain up too long as he was sure she had far better things to do. "If that's all Captain I am sure I can assist Nurse Vinia, if she has no objection?" He waited to be dismissed.

The Captain nodded. “You two proceed with the autopsy. The Lieutenant and I will be roaming about Dr. Hill’s office and using the lab equipment” she explained excusing their presence. “I know something happened at the transit facility and want to know what. There’s no way that creature was the only thing over there. It couldn’t have destroyed those files. I’m not even sure it killed those men and women,” she said shaking her head.

Aeryn smiled softly and shook the outstretched hand as was the human custom. "I welcome the assistance Lieutenant Grey. "

"You're welcome." Rob was excited finally getting to do something challenging. Although it was only a body now and the person's soul had long left the body. An autopsy allowed the medical examiner one final conversation with the body. As odd as that may sound the reasoning was simple. Every mark and blemish bruise had its own story to tell. The contents of the stomach could even tell you what the person's last meal was. The person, even though deceased, could tell you plenty. He stood, observing the body, as he had actually never been involved with this side of it before.

"Sorry, Lt. Vinia. I am inexperienced with the science of autopsy. So, I will follow your lead." As he walked over to the section of sick bay which was sectioned off away from the main treatment areas. He had stepped into scrubs, ready to proceed.

"We begin with the outside. Photograph all visible wounds and bruises. Swab each wound and explore it. Scrape under the nails. I'll start with brushing the hair for particulates."

Captain Figueroa looked at the Caitian. "Right, that's our cue to let these two get to work and get me away from the blood and guts. Hate to admit it, but your Captain is a bit squeamish folks," she said shaking her head.

K'Niras nodded again. "I wish to speak to you privately anyway, Captain." His nose was wrinkled and his ears flat against his head at the onslaught of smells. "I would welcome any excuse to be away from here." He waited for Fig to lead the way, staying close behind her.

The Captain nodded in agreement. “Right,” she said giving her uniform a tug. “We can use the Doctor’s Office,” she said as she took point and brought the lieutenant to the office. The door closing behind them.

Rob listened intently as the woman explained the procedures that were to be followed. He nodded as the Lt spoke. As she finished he picked up medical tricorder and ran cellular tissue scans where the bruises were as indicated they were now a good couple of hours old black and blue and some tinge of yellow. Several larger sized bruises had formed over the chest cavity and forehead and across the right forearm. He wondered if this was a blunt trauma caused by a fall. "Lt. Vinia initial scans show this male had fought with someone much stronger than him, perhaps a Klingon. It is the working hypothesis right now. Although there are no cuts, say, from a Klingon weapon."

He considered a few other things. "As far as I can see he has no visible broken bones that recent except a wrist fracture that's a couple of years old and the bone has not healed properly. There is a small puncture wound on the right side of the chest plate, what caused it is unknown. It does not look too deep. It's a few inches wide and the wound is clean."

"That is interesting. Swab the edges of the wound for any particulate or biological matter and then see what the computer spits out for you." Aeryn replied as she scraped the fingernails and ran the contents under the computer's microscope for identification.

It was then that Captain Figueroa and her Chief Communications Officer vacated the Chief Medical Officer's office. Lieutenant Sh'howul heading off to continue the work that the Captain had instructred him to do. The Captain examining the medical staff for a moment before giving them a nod of approval and encouragement. "I will be on the Bridge. Report anything unusual that you find" she added.