Hospital Tour

Post of the Month - May 2006

by Connie Morgan

ON:

--Kinard Medical Facility, Garis Kinard Colony~-

Connie at the current moment of time wasn't on the Pacifica as she was down at the colony receiving a tour of it's primary medical facility. She had been away from the Pacifica for just over an hour now and she was fairly impressed with what she had seen so far. Some of the facilities equipment itself was starting to get a little bit dated but she had observed that they were in the process of updating some of the more critical pieces of equipment. The facility itself was also very well organised, which wasn't surprising considering it's size and it seemed to be staffed by a highly dedicated and well trained team of medical professionals.

Connie clasped her hands together behind her back as she made her way out of the intensive care unit and turned around to face her tour guide. Her tour guide was Doctor Edward Andrews a former Starfleet Doctor who had left Starfleet Medical several years ago to take up a position as the colony's head physician. Connie knew the Doctor fairly well as he had been one of her instructors at Starfleet Medical. It had been Doctor Andrews who had had extended the invitation to her to visit the surface as he had stated that he had something to show her.

Morgan: I must say I'm quite impressed you have an excellent facility here.

Andrews: Thank you I know it's not quite advanced as what your use to seeing but it's gets the job done.

Morgan: Of that I have no doubt, how many cases can you handle?

Andrews: Thirteen critical and twenty-seven minor cases at any one time. In emergencies we have room to set up additional triages if necessary.

Connie nodded her head as Doctor Andrews pointed up the corridor to a closed door that was operated a small security access panel that was built into the wall beside the door. After pointing out the door Andrews started to make his way towards it and Connie quickly followed.

Andrews: Up ahead we have our research facility.

Morgan: I wasn't aware that you had a research facility.

Andrews: It's something that we've managed to scrape together over the past two years, but a lot of the equipment is obsolete. We are hoping to upgrade it over the next couple of years.

Connie nodded her head as she came to a stop at the door while Andrews entered his clearance code into the security panel. Once the code was entered the panel's green access light went off and the doors slid open. Andrews stepped through the door then stepped to the side allowing Connie to enter the room. She was immediately impressed with what she saw as the colonists had indeed managed to put together a fairly decent research facility. Andrews though hadn't been joking when it came to equipment that they were using, as a lot of it was indeed obsolete.

The facility itself was pretty small much like the rest of the facility and at the moment it appeared to be empty. She spotted a couple of small containment canisters sitting on the main research table. Each of the canisters housed a small dull looking plant that Connie couldn't recognise. She walked across to the table to get a better look and was quickly followed by Andrews.

Andrews: This is what I wanted to show you.

Connie came to a stop at the counter and leaned forward slightly placing her hands on her knees to take a closer look at the plant. She knew a bit about plants, as it was one of the areas that she had studied in biology during her time at the academy. She had seen a number of different plants during her time, but she had never seen one like this. The plant itself was quite dull in colour and Connie would of thought that it was dead except for very small bright orange petals that it appeared to be flowering. She studied the plant for a little bit longer before looking up at Andrews.

Morgan: I've never seen this before.

Andrews: ;;smiles;; That's not surprising we only discovered it last month by chance during surveys in the north. We've been studying it ever since and we've had some interesting results.

Connie looked up at Andrews as he had successfully managed to peak her interest. He walked across to the room's master display and brought up some information on the screen. Connie walked over to join Andrews and started to take a closer look at the information that was being displayed for her on the screen. The results were indeed interesting as they had managed to isolate some of the plant's properties, Connie had seen all of these properties before but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Morgan: I've seen this before.

Andrews: You should have it has all the properties found in the Ligonian vaccine.

Andrews pressed a couple of buttons and new information appeared on the screen showing the properties of the Ligonian vaccine to that of plant. It was at this moment that things clicked for Connie and she started to see exactly what Andrews was going on about. The plant did indeed have all of the properties of the Ligonian vaccine was made this an excellent find as the very race Ligonian vaccine was the only known cure of the deadly Anchilles fever.

Morgan: This is amazing.

Andrews: I know this is the first time that a plant with all of these properties has been found in Federation space. With further work we feel that it may be possible to refine this plant into a new vaccine for Anchilles fever.

Connie nodded her head as she saw the potential in this to become a viable cure to the fever as the Ligonian cure was sometimes very hard to acquire as it was only found on the Ligonians home world on Ligon II and was impossible to replicate.

Morgan: I see what you mean.

Andrews: The problem is we don't have the equipment to carry on this research ourselves.

Morgan: I'll get in contact with Starfleet Medical, I'm sure that they'll want to investigate this further.

Andrews: That's what I was hoping for, as they would be able to make more progress on this then we would be able to.

Morgan: I'll do that as soon as I get back to the Pacifica. Is there any chance that I can obtain a couple of samples for myself as I'd love to take a closer look at it myself.

Andrews: ;;laughs;; I knew you were going to ask that, of course you can. It will take me a couple of hours to get the samples together though.

Morgan: That's fine we'll be orbit for a while longer yet.

She watched as Andrews turned around and walked back across to the counter where he picked up a PADD that he quickly passed to Connie. Connie took a quick look at the PADD to see that it contained the information that the research team had so far gathered on the plant.

Andrews: That contains all of data that we have managed to collect so far.

Morgan: ;;looks up at him;; I'll be sure to pass this on to Starfleet Medical.

Andrews: Thank you.

Having concluded their business in the research labs Doctor Andrews lead Connie back out into the corridor and they made their way back to the main reception area. Once they arrived at their destination Connie turned around to face her former instructor.

Morgan: Well I should be getting back to the ship thanks for the tour.

Andrews: It was my pleasure it's always fun to play host to an old student. I'll have my assistant get in touch with you when your samples are ready for transport.

Morgan: Thank you, and take care of yourself.

Andrews: ;;smiles;; Always do and I hope that your wedding is beautiful.

Morgan: ;;returns the smile;; Thank you. +Taps+ Morgan to Pacifica one to beam up.

Transporter Chief: =/\= Stand by =/\=

Morgan took one last look around the facility moments before she felt the Pacifica's transporter latching onto her. Moments later she was back up on the Pacifica in one of the ship�s many transporter rooms.

OFF:

Doctor Connie Morgan
Chief Medical Officer
USS Pacifica NCC-72545