Night shift in sickbay was a poster child for the term ‘hurry up and wait.’ Short periods of intense crisis were offset by minutes – sometimes hours of little to no work. And yet it wasn’t relaxing downtime because that next crisis might be just around the corner.

Theran Jos was a neurosurgeon by trade, and all of his surgeries were scheduled day, if not weeks, in advance. That gave him a very stable schedule 90% of the time. But as a junior ranked officer he was still required to put in the time for a night shift each cycle. And tonight was that night.

“How much you want to bet we’ll have a… blunt force trauma… coming in next?” Theran started in a very chatty way towards the human nurse he was tending the bay with.  He smiled, casual and charismatic.

In the several years Huxley spent at the Academy he had visions of what his career would be. Exploring unseen planets, meeting new civilizations, studying medical disorders unimaginable to any Doctors. The last thing he imagined was spending his nights locked up a medical centre treating unruly intoxicated crewman who didn’t know their limit. Although, he was out in the stars. “I’ll take that bet, whats the wager? Huxley responded in an approachable tone.

Both antennae wiggled as he grinned. “oh, standard bet is fetching one caffeinated beverage of choice from The Brew. And we’re probably gonna need… several.” He looked towards Huxley. “What’s your beverage of choice?”

“Good question, I used to enjoy a basic coffee but these shifts having got me craving any caffeine I can get.” Huxley chuckled at the Physician.

“Huxley, right?  I saw your name on the recently assigned manifest.  Welcome onboard!  I’m Theran Jos.  Unless I have my scrubs on you can call me Theran.”

“Yeah thats right, first posting since my commission. Pleasure to meet you Theran. So what can I really expect from this assignment? I’ve really only been to my quarters and here.” Bill had only ever dreamed of serving on a ship but when this opportunity arose and he was offered assignment, something about a floating city nagged at him.

Just as the Physician was about to answer the ensign, a voice on a the commlink speaker interrupts with “Medical Emergency, incident in maintenance, potential blunt force trauma”

“I suppose I owe everyone a round” Bill responded astonished at Theran’s ability to predict the injury.

With a shrug both antennae fell downward into the thick waves of Theran’s white hair. “I hate being right. Let’s gear up and get out there!”

Bill rushed to organize equipment, this was not his first medical emergency but he still didn’t have much practice outside of e-sim training at the academy. Faint whispering could be heard from the Ensign as he attempted to memorize every possible acronym he was taught

It took less than two minutes for the team to assemble. Dr. Jos, Nurse Huxley and two orderlies who were there to help move patients or equipment into the right hands at the right time. Jos checked the team over before initiating the internal medical transporter, and soon the quartet of teal warriors was ready to delve into the depths of maintenance. The lights were bright but the panels on the walls were high and bright light streaked through the passages like knives through lurking shadows. The whole place smelled like manifold lubricant and Bolian disinfectant.

Theran looked towards the nearest on duty officer who was not working. “Where is the medical incident?”

The petty officer pointed to a place where two other maintenance workers were standing vigil over a collapsed Dopterian male. From the surrounding mess it looked like a heavy container of some sort of liquid metal had fallen and struck the patient. Pools of metallic sheen gathered and rolled in a non-Newtonian manner.

Doctor Jos took just long enough to check the area and ensure it was safe before looking towards Huxley. “Ensign Huxley, it’s triage time, you’re up.”

The Ensign bolted to the floor, immediately checking the patients vitals. Pulse, check. Breathing, check. Bleeding, check. Nurse Huxley took out a light from his pocket, pried the eyes of the patient opened and shone the light into their eyes to check receptiveness. “Doctor, we have pulse and breathing. There is little bleeding at the abdomen. Eyes are not responding to light, possible concussion. Orders?” responded the Ensign.

Standing still, antennae quavering, Theran was trying to take in as much information as he could gather before the scanners beat him to it.  “Stabilize the patient for a medical transport.”

“Immediately, Sir. Orderly pass that over” ordered Huxley as he pointed at a Cortical Stimulator. Bill then prepared it for use and handed it over to the Physician.

Theran knelt down, placing the Cortical Stimulator onto the patient’s temples. There was a faint beeping sound as the device activated, and his antennae twitched. The device was working perfectly, but there was little to no improvement showing on the scans.

Huxley raised an eyebrow at the order “Sir, I don’t think he is in any condition to be moved.” Bill didn’t want to question a trained Medical Officer but given the situation he managed to find his voice.

“Something is preventing the Cortical Stimulator from having is usual efficacy.” Despite his usually casual attitude, Doctor Jos had dropped into formal medical tones. Maybe that was his game face or maybe it was stress. Maybe both. “Either way it’s preventing us from being able to stabilize him.” The Andorian narrowed his eyes, adjusting for the peculiar Dopterian brain structure. Still no effect…