. Thums shrugged, "Certainly, Commodore. I don't actually know that much of it myself. It was my grandparents and great-grandparents that spoke French."
. But Relok pointed out, "Commodore ... if we are restricting Mr. Thums from speaking his ancestral language ... will you be reining in Miss MacArdry's dialect? Or T'Lin or I speaking Vulcan, or Mr. Tibris or Khal'Gon from speaking Klingon?"
. The Commodore muttered, "Uhhh ...."
. Relok continued, "That illustrates my point, sir. You cannot dictate that people not speak in their 'native' languages. You can only request they attempt to communicate in the common vernacular to facilitate proper understanding."
. Kyle looked around then asked, "Um ... what'd he say?"
. Zak translated for the country boy, "Just that we all 'speak normal' so we can be understood."
. Carshel did a facepalm and mumbled, "Idiot."
. Kyle turned to Carshel, "Hey, I ain't no idjut! I just wants folks to talk normal, that's all! Ain't that commy-complated."
. LtCmdr. Denovan Hawke had entered about that time. In consideration of Kyle's expression, he presented him a bag of popcorn.
. Kyle's face lit up. "Ooh! Mr. Hawke brought us poopy corn! I loves me some poopy corn!"
. Relok rolled his eyes and groaned. "I certainly wish you hadn't used that particular adjective to describe that particular snack, Mr. Kyle."
. Den said, "Brought it to watch the ... discussion."
. Carshel went back to their earlier topic. "At least Relok makes sense to me when he goes native. I may not understand Vulcan, but I do understand the ancestral language part. My mother was Tribal." He paused, then lowered his voice to say, "I won't speak further details on that matter. Some things are best left unsaid."
. Relok raised an eyebrow at Carshel but said nothing. Carshel looked over at him and explained, "Don't worry, Relok, I do love my mother greatly. But there are reasons I choose to not mention anything further."
. But Relok pointed out, "Commodore ... if we are restricting Mr. Thums from speaking his ancestral language ... will you be reining in Miss MacArdry's dialect? Or T'Lin or I speaking Vulcan, or Mr. Tibris or Khal'Gon from speaking Klingon?"
. The Commodore muttered, "Uhhh ...."
. Relok continued, "That illustrates my point, sir. You cannot dictate that people not speak in their 'native' languages. You can only request they attempt to communicate in the common vernacular to facilitate proper understanding."
. Kyle looked around then asked, "Um ... what'd he say?"
. Zak translated for the country boy, "Just that we all 'speak normal' so we can be understood."
. Carshel did a facepalm and mumbled, "Idiot."
. Kyle turned to Carshel, "Hey, I ain't no idjut! I just wants folks to talk normal, that's all! Ain't that commy-complated."
. LtCmdr. Denovan Hawke had entered about that time. In consideration of Kyle's expression, he presented him a bag of popcorn.
. Kyle's face lit up. "Ooh! Mr. Hawke brought us poopy corn! I loves me some poopy corn!"
. Relok rolled his eyes and groaned. "I certainly wish you hadn't used that particular adjective to describe that particular snack, Mr. Kyle."
. Den said, "Brought it to watch the ... discussion."
. Carshel went back to their earlier topic. "At least Relok makes sense to me when he goes native. I may not understand Vulcan, but I do understand the ancestral language part. My mother was Tribal." He paused, then lowered his voice to say, "I won't speak further details on that matter. Some things are best left unsaid."
. Relok raised an eyebrow at Carshel but said nothing. Carshel looked over at him and explained, "Don't worry, Relok, I do love my mother greatly. But there are reasons I choose to not mention anything further."
. Kyle munched a few kernels of popcorn then said, "I used to knows some Injuns back home. Y'all knows that there was lots of them Injuns in North Carolina, right? Back afore the white man came and settled thar?"
. Relok turned to Kyle and said, "Mr. Kyle, I think most of them prefer the appellation of 'Native American' or even 'Indigenous Peoples'. I think in the northern part of the continent they use the term 'First Nations'."
. Kyle stared at him a moment. "Huh? Whut? Dem Injuns ya mean? Yeah, they's native all right. Always done been there, fer thousands of years."
. Carshel continued musing, "My mother can be a bit of a ... Wild Flower. I agree, Relok. I prefer 'Indigenous Peoples'." He turned to Kyle. "Homer, what Relok meant is that by saying it that way, it can be insulting and degrading, even if unintentional."
. Suddenly, a Native American man with a strange hawk-shaped tattoo in the middle of his forehead appeared (probably some holographic projection or something like that). "Did someone mention my daughter?"
. Carshel flinched. "Uh, no! No, nothing at all!" He quickly lowered his gaze and starting shuffling through some paperwork.
. Relok turned to the tattooed man. "Mr. T'lanuwa ... you're on the wrong ship, aren't you?"
. Col. Travis Patterson arrived about the same time as the strange tattooed man appeared. With a grin he said, "Old Man, get the hell off my ship!"
. Dr. Shadow K'Trevala noticed the Native American. He knew of him by reputation and greeted him, "Greetings, Midew." The title was a term from the Native American tribe known as the Ojibwa and meant a practitioner of the ancient Native American shamanic medicine.
. LtCmdr. Denovan Hawke had returned to the Bridge after a brief pow-wow with his sister, Lt. Katarina Hawke, a de-assimilated former Borg like himself; LtCmdr. Bevin MacArdry, their Chief Engineer; and Dr. Shadow K'Trevala, their Chief Medical Officer; where they'd been discussing how they might solve the hearing problems of LtJG Jackson Carshel, whose hearing had been damaged during the Battle of the Bunker on the Mirror Universe Kyrathian Homeworld. He chimed in on the Commodore's request about finding the Cerberus, "A unique hull signature that we only know."
. Cmdr. Relok, the Vulcan Chief of Sciences, was still sitting in the Executive Officer's seat. He turned to face Den. "The Cerberus does have some rather unusual hull chemistry. Perhaps that could work. I'm not sure it's entirely unique, though, and when it's cloaked, we wouldn't be able to get any sensor data from it."
. A call came from Col. Travis Patterson over the commlink, "Patterson to Bridge. We're tucked away and disembarking now."
. Zak tapped his commbadge and responded, "Colonel, would it be a good time for a briefing? Let's gather in the Observation Lounge so you can let us know what you found out over there."
. LtCmdr. Tabeshk Tibris, the half-Klingon, half-Romulan Chief of Operations, logged off his console, turning it over to Ens. Proxy Filler, and picked up a PADD to head to the Observation Lounge. As he did, he called his fiancée, LtCmdr. Bevin MacArdry to inform her of the meeting.
. MAX manifested his face on one of the monitors in the Reconnaissance area of the Bridge and addressed Hines, "Hull configuration won't work when the vessel is actively cloaked, especially considering the use of ECM and ECCM systems to refract and deflect any sort of sensor sweeps." He paused, then added, "It's nearly impossible to detect. A stellar design, to be fair."
. MAX manifested his face on one of the monitors in the Reconnaissance area of the Bridge and addressed Hines, "Hull configuration won't work when the vessel is actively cloaked, especially considering the use of ECM and ECCM systems to refract and deflect any sort of sensor sweeps." He paused, then added, "It's nearly impossible to detect. A stellar design, to be fair."
. Relok had stood and moved over to the Recon area. He gave MAX a nod, "Indeed. Almost as if it was designed to be undetectable." While he tried to conceal it, everyone could easily detect his smirk.
. Den turned around from the Tactical Console so he could see over Hines' shoulder. He continued their discussion on detecting the undetectable Recon vessel, "That's figuring if it's working perfectly as well, and I'm not saying it isn't." He paused, then continued, "We're bound to know something. What about engine signatures we know of? Things gotta have a tail pipe, even cloaked."
. Relok raised an eyebrow at Den. "Interesting concept, Mr. Hawke. But ... surely the designers factored in some kind of system to minimize any ion trail?"
. Hines suggested, "Wait, what about subspace distortion? Doesn't the Cerberus use a singularity?" He checked over the Recon systems again for the specs on the Cerberus.
. Den rubbed his chin. "I believe it does, however, so do all Romulan ships."
. Hines gave a slight shrug, "But not nearly the same size."
. MAX chimed in, "That would be a possibility if the Cerberus wasn't designed with that in mind. The vessel itself is specifically designed to counteract the distortions that a standard singularity would create."
. Zak was standing near the door to the corridor that led to the Observation Lounge aft of the Bridge. He looked over at Relok and Den and gave a slight smile. "You gentlemen want to hear what the Colonel found over there? C'mon, we'll hear the briefing and then you guys can get back to work."
. Relok glanced over at the Commodore. "Oh, yes, of course, sir. Mr. Carshel, would you continue looking into methods to track the Cerberus with Mr. Hines? We'll be right back, I'm sure."
. Carshel gave a slight shrug and a noncommittal, "Mhmm."
. Zak was standing near the door to the corridor that led to the Observation Lounge aft of the Bridge. He looked over at Relok and Den and gave a slight smile. "You gentlemen want to hear what the Colonel found over there? C'mon, we'll hear the briefing and then you guys can get back to work."
. Relok glanced over at the Commodore. "Oh, yes, of course, sir. Mr. Carshel, would you continue looking into methods to track the Cerberus with Mr. Hines? We'll be right back, I'm sure."
. Carshel gave a slight shrug and a noncommittal, "Mhmm."
. At the Helm, LtCmdr. Jason Carter shook his head and set the autopilot to hold their current position, then stood, moving towards the Observation Lounge himself.
. Den made one last comment to Hines, "Tachyon fields are going to be out of the question. Designers would have already though of that." He turned back to the Tactical station and logged off, turning it over to Lt. Standin and stepping off towards the Observation Lounge.
. As the senior officers stepped through the door, MAX and Hines continued working on their problem. After a while MAX said, "If I may offer an alternative method of thinking ... why are we trying to detect the ship, rather than trying to communicate with preset patterns of 'random' binary signals?"
. Hines blinked at the AI, "But ... if we're talking communications, MAX, how would binary code work?"
. MAX explained, "To any civilization, binary code is just a series of 0s and 1s. To a computer, it's quite different. Add in an algorithm that allows the binary code to be displayed in 3D, and it becomes almost structured, like an atomic signature."
. Hines started to pick up the line of reasoning. He continued for MAX, "Which would then reflect either numbers or letters in accordance with the Periodic Table ... and as such, messages! That gives us communications, but ... how would anyone interpret it?"
. MAX answered, "Precise--," he interrupted himself then quickly said, "Stand by."
. Hines stared at the 3D image of MAX's face on one of his consoles. "What? What is it?"
. A string of bits appeared on one of Hines' monitors: "10011100 00101010 01111011".
. "Curious," MAX said. He accessed the Recon systems and displayed the series of bytes as coordinates, using the first two values as 3D headings and the third value as a range, as in "One-fifty-six mark forty-two, range 123 light years."
. As the senior officers stepped through the door, MAX and Hines continued working on their problem. After a while MAX said, "If I may offer an alternative method of thinking ... why are we trying to detect the ship, rather than trying to communicate with preset patterns of 'random' binary signals?"
. Hines blinked at the AI, "But ... if we're talking communications, MAX, how would binary code work?"
. MAX explained, "To any civilization, binary code is just a series of 0s and 1s. To a computer, it's quite different. Add in an algorithm that allows the binary code to be displayed in 3D, and it becomes almost structured, like an atomic signature."
. Hines started to pick up the line of reasoning. He continued for MAX, "Which would then reflect either numbers or letters in accordance with the Periodic Table ... and as such, messages! That gives us communications, but ... how would anyone interpret it?"
. MAX answered, "Precise--," he interrupted himself then quickly said, "Stand by."
. Hines stared at the 3D image of MAX's face on one of his consoles. "What? What is it?"
. A string of bits appeared on one of Hines' monitors: "10011100 00101010 01111011".
. "Curious," MAX said. He accessed the Recon systems and displayed the series of bytes as coordinates, using the first two values as 3D headings and the third value as a range, as in "One-fifty-six mark forty-two, range 123 light years."
. Hines watched carefully, then saw where it placed the coordinates. "Wait, MAX, that's on the border of Gorn space." He turned his chair and stood, looking over at Carshel. "Lieutenant," he said, "those coordinates ... there's an isolinear subspace influx at that location."
. Carshel checked and said, "Yeah, I see that."
. Hines raised an eyebrow and tapped his commbadge, "Commodore, you're needed to the Bridge ... I think we're getting coordinates from the Cerberus!"
. The Commodore's voice came back on the commlink, "Acknowledged! Briefing over, people. Let's see what the Cerberus has to say!"
. Hines knew he wasn't the senior officer on the bridge (that would have been Lt. Standin at the moment), but he took command anyway. "Helm, lay in a course for the coordinates received, and stand by at best speed."
. Ens. Filler was at the Operations Console and the Helm was on autopilot. He quickly transferred Helm control to his station and followed Hines' command without question. Hines continued, "And Filler, auxiliary power to the warp field stabilizers."
. When Filler nodded, Hines turned to the Tactical officer. "Standin, raise the shields and recalibrate for the possibility of emergency warp."
. The Vulcan Tactical Officer, who was technically the senior officer on the Bridge at the moment, gave a nod and did as the Sergeant Major "suggested". He sounded Yellow Alert and the klaxon wailed a moment and the lights flashed yellow as the shields went up.
. At that moment, the Commodore stepped onto the Bridge and called out, "Report!"
. MAX beat Hines to the punch to issue the Commodore's report. "Binary code, Commodore. Three sets of numbers. The first two were headings, horizontal and vertical, and the third was the range. Binary signals on the lower subspace EM band."
. Hines knew he wasn't the senior officer on the bridge (that would have been Lt. Standin at the moment), but he took command anyway. "Helm, lay in a course for the coordinates received, and stand by at best speed."
. Ens. Filler was at the Operations Console and the Helm was on autopilot. He quickly transferred Helm control to his station and followed Hines' command without question. Hines continued, "And Filler, auxiliary power to the warp field stabilizers."
. When Filler nodded, Hines turned to the Tactical officer. "Standin, raise the shields and recalibrate for the possibility of emergency warp."
. The Vulcan Tactical Officer, who was technically the senior officer on the Bridge at the moment, gave a nod and did as the Sergeant Major "suggested". He sounded Yellow Alert and the klaxon wailed a moment and the lights flashed yellow as the shields went up.
. At that moment, the Commodore stepped onto the Bridge and called out, "Report!"
. MAX beat Hines to the punch to issue the Commodore's report. "Binary code, Commodore. Three sets of numbers. The first two were headings, horizontal and vertical, and the third was the range. Binary signals on the lower subspace EM band."
. LtCmdr. Bevin MacArdry came up from Main Engineering, tossing a PADD on the table in front of the chair next to Tabby and giving her fiancée a kiss on the cheek as she sat down.
. Zak glanced around the room again to see if all the "important people" were there yet. "Who's missing?" he asked.
. Patterson retrieved a mug of something he called "sludge" from the replicator and turned, scanning the room. "I think we're missing Medical?"
. Just as Patterson said that, Dr. Shadow K'Trevala (who held a LtCmdr. rank) and Lt. Katarina Hawke (the Head Nurse) arrived from Sickbay. Shadow said, "We're right here, Pat."
. Kat mumbled, "Sorry. Shadow took a wrong turn." She took her seat as Shadow leaned against a bulkhead wall.
. Relok raised an eyebrow and called to Shadow over their private mental connection, ~Shayana, you got lost on our own ship?~
. Shadow smiled at him and sent back, ~She's teasing you again, brother.~
. Kat shook her head at Shadow and took her seat. She still wasn't quite sure why she was included in meetings of "senior staff", but ... she was there anyway.
. "Ah," Zak said, "There they are. So, Colonel, what'd you find over there? Oh, where's Miss Mane? You didn't lose her did you?"
. Suddenly Tabby blurted out, "Who likes ginger tea? Why am I feeling like somebody really likes ginger?"
. Bevin answered in her strong Brogue, "I'd nae maind same, Taibby."
. "Riight," Tabby drawled, writing that down as well, mumbling, "Bevin likes ginger tea."
. Den cleared his throat, since the meeting had started. Zak still looked at Patterson, waiting for his report.
. Just as Patterson said that, Dr. Shadow K'Trevala (who held a LtCmdr. rank) and Lt. Katarina Hawke (the Head Nurse) arrived from Sickbay. Shadow said, "We're right here, Pat."
. Kat mumbled, "Sorry. Shadow took a wrong turn." She took her seat as Shadow leaned against a bulkhead wall.
. Relok raised an eyebrow and called to Shadow over their private mental connection, ~Shayana, you got lost on our own ship?~
. Shadow smiled at him and sent back, ~She's teasing you again, brother.~
. Kat shook her head at Shadow and took her seat. She still wasn't quite sure why she was included in meetings of "senior staff", but ... she was there anyway.
. "Ah," Zak said, "There they are. So, Colonel, what'd you find over there? Oh, where's Miss Mane? You didn't lose her did you?"
. Suddenly Tabby blurted out, "Who likes ginger tea? Why am I feeling like somebody really likes ginger?"
. Bevin answered in her strong Brogue, "I'd nae maind same, Taibby."
. "Riight," Tabby drawled, writing that down as well, mumbling, "Bevin likes ginger tea."
. Den cleared his throat, since the meeting had started. Zak still looked at Patterson, waiting for his report.
. Patterson nodded then said, "The station's a backwater husk of smugglers and criminals. Probably the most shoddy construction I've seen. Misty's back in the Hangar with her ship. She had a contact she sells to frequently, but as far as her connections, nothing regarding Ssissthiss. But, there was a Nausicaan who took off when the power went out. I tailed him, and signaled to Sandy on the Cerberus to tail him. We broke off pursuit in the Canteen to ease the tension of being followed."
. Zak said, "But Sandy hasn't reported in yet. That might mean he's staying 'under the radar' so to speak. Colonel, we need a way to find the Cerberus even when it's hiding! I don't like not having any way to track that little ship!"
. Patterson answered, "Quite honestly, sir ... that's the one thing that's kept it so stealthy."
. Tabby said, "It is your ship, Pat. If anyone knows a way, it's you, right?"
. Patterson gave a slight shrug, "People look for the ship ...," he trailed off.
. Tabby muttered, "You don't find the Cerberus ... it finds you."
. Zak smirked at Tabby's observation. "Yeah ... but ... we need to be able to do it the other way ... without giving up its stealth capability."
. As the others talked, Kat kept glancing over at Patterson. She was wondering why Shadow wanted her to check on him. Was he OK? She could have sworn the man was in his prime and fit, especially after recovering from the last problem that put him in sickbay. He looked healthy enough to her ... well, more than healthy. Kat couldn't help continuing to look though, before forcing her attention back to the meeting.
. Shadow watched Kat watching Patterson. So, he liked to play matchmaker with a few people aboard, Kat would just have to deal with that. After all, Pat and Kat made a cute couple, right?
. Relok asked, "Colonel, you said a Nausicaan left when the power went out and that this is who Sandy is tailing? You think he knows something about the Ambassador?"
. As the others talked, Kat kept glancing over at Patterson. She was wondering why Shadow wanted her to check on him. Was he OK? She could have sworn the man was in his prime and fit, especially after recovering from the last problem that put him in sickbay. He looked healthy enough to her ... well, more than healthy. Kat couldn't help continuing to look though, before forcing her attention back to the meeting.
. Shadow watched Kat watching Patterson. So, he liked to play matchmaker with a few people aboard, Kat would just have to deal with that. After all, Pat and Kat made a cute couple, right?
. Relok asked, "Colonel, you said a Nausicaan left when the power went out and that this is who Sandy is tailing? You think he knows something about the Ambassador?"
. Patterson answered Relok, "Pretty sure. Even then, Relok ... it's our only lead at this point."
. Relok said, "So, we need to know where Sandy is and where this Nausicaan is headed. How can we contact him?"
. Den narrowed his eyes in thought a moment, then said, "What about ... Colonel, you have full access command codes to the Cerberus, correct?"
. Zak just sat quietly, patiently waiting for his senior staff to come up with a brilliant plan.
. Kat glanced at Shadow, then back to Patterson again, still trying to understand what Shadow had meant. Was Patterson sick and trying to hide it? Kat frowned, concerned, as she looked over the Colonel, then back to the meeting in general, a confused look on her face.
. Patterson nodded at Den. "For the most part, yes. When AEGIS is engaged in full stealth, the AI has the authority to override any remote inputs in the interest of mission security."
. Relok said, "So ... AEGIS could conceivably override its own stealth systems? How can we use that to our advantage?"
. Den was still thinking out loud. "So, this may or may not work the way I was thinking of it, which was for you to use that to be able to have it give us some kind of subtle direction or coordinates we can follow every ... let's say 2 hours. Only, maybe ... something only you would understand ... or perhaps ... MAX?"
. A call came over the commlink from SgtMaj. Derek Hines on the Bridge. "Commodore, you're needed to the Bridge. I think we're getting coordinates from the Cerberus!"
. Den shrugged, "Or ... that could happen."
. Patterson was about to speak when the commlink chirped. After he heard what Hines said he stood and said, "See? People look for the Cerberus and that's why they never find her."
. Zak tapped his commbadge to answer Hines. "Acknowledged!" He glanced around the room and added, "Briefing over, people. Let's see what the Cerberus has to say!"
. Den was still thinking out loud. "So, this may or may not work the way I was thinking of it, which was for you to use that to be able to have it give us some kind of subtle direction or coordinates we can follow every ... let's say 2 hours. Only, maybe ... something only you would understand ... or perhaps ... MAX?"
. A call came over the commlink from SgtMaj. Derek Hines on the Bridge. "Commodore, you're needed to the Bridge. I think we're getting coordinates from the Cerberus!"
. Den shrugged, "Or ... that could happen."
. Patterson was about to speak when the commlink chirped. After he heard what Hines said he stood and said, "See? People look for the Cerberus and that's why they never find her."
. Zak tapped his commbadge to answer Hines. "Acknowledged!" He glanced around the room and added, "Briefing over, people. Let's see what the Cerberus has to say!"
. Kat turned to Shadow. "Doctor, he seems to have a minor concision, cuts and bruises, a cut on his right index finger that is infected, his left hand is covered in burns, his ribs ... I'm not yet sure if they are broken or not. His ankle has a hairline fracture from these scans. It's a wonder the man has survived this long." She gave Thums a pointed look.
. Shadow turned to Kat. "I know, Kat, and I'm taking care of it all. I wasn't going to inflict all Mr. Clumsy's problems on you when you have Pat to deal with."
. Suddenly, Kat's medical scanner started flickering, its screen going off, then on, then off again. She looked it at, curious, and said, "Okay, I may need to see if engineering will look at this, my scanner just flickered, though I don't see how it could be malfunctioning, it's really not that old." She shook her head.
. Thums sat up, "Hey, doc, let me take a look at it. I am an engineer after all." He reached out for it, but overextended and nearly fell off the biobed. "Whoa!"
. Shadow quickly adjusted the local gravity plating around Thums' biobed to only half a gee, even as Kat whirled on him. "Wait," she asked, "Pat? What do you mean, what's wrong with Patterson?" Her face showed her confusion.
. Shadow turned to her. "I had asked you to keep an eye on him for me." An alert sounded, calling them to the senior staff meeting. Shadow turned back to Thums, "We'll be back soon, Al. C'mon, Kat, we have a meeting."
. Kat blinked at him, still confused. "That was a while ago," she said, referring to Shadow's request to keep an eye on Patterson. "Is Patterson not free of his baby sitter yet?" Then, when he mentioned the meeting she looked even more confused. "A meeting? When did this happen?" Numbly, she grabbed a PADD and followed Shadow out of Sickbay.
. Thums laid back on the bed and groaned. "I always get left out of the fun stuff."
. Shadow turned to her. "I had asked you to keep an eye on him for me." An alert sounded, calling them to the senior staff meeting. Shadow turned back to Thums, "We'll be back soon, Al. C'mon, Kat, we have a meeting."
. Kat blinked at him, still confused. "That was a while ago," she said, referring to Shadow's request to keep an eye on Patterson. "Is Patterson not free of his baby sitter yet?" Then, when he mentioned the meeting she looked even more confused. "A meeting? When did this happen?" Numbly, she grabbed a PADD and followed Shadow out of Sickbay.
. Thums laid back on the bed and groaned. "I always get left out of the fun stuff."
. After some time, Thums looked around Sickbay, bored. "At least they could have left me a PADD to read or something." He searched around him and then said, "Hey, there's something over there!" He slid off the biobed and padded across Sickbay.
. Only, he snagged his Sickbay gown on the corner of his biobed, pulling a thread. He slipped, stumbled, and fell into a tray of medical devices, sending them flying across the room. "Ai-yee!" he cried out.
. One of Sickbay's attending nurses rushed in at the sound of his cry. Nurse Ratchet ran over and helped Thums back to his feet, escorting him back to his biobed. Once on the bed, she strapped him in "for his own safety" and handed him a PADD to read before turning to collect the various instruments and put them back into the sterilizer.
. As Ratchet guided him back to the bed and was strapping him in, Thums stammered, "I was just ... I wanted ... Oh, mon dieu! It's happening again!"
. A little while later, Thums was flipping through the pages displayed on the PADD. He grumbled, "This is boring! What is this, some kind of medical treatise? Don't you have any engineering manuals or something?" He tried to get up again, but was reminded he was strapped down. "Aw, c'mon!" he complained.
. Nurse Ratchet came back over and with a slight frown (or was it a scowl?), hit a tab on the PADD to change it over to an engineering journal. "Ah!" he said, "That's better! I like the ...," he coughed, "the ...," he hacked again. "I can't ...," but he went into an even longer coughing fit and couldn't finish his statement.
. As the coughing got rougher, Thums eventually expelled a huge blob of mucus. He stared at it then said, "Uh ... that ain't normal, is it? I don't feel so good."
. Ratchet brought him a nebulizer and set it up for a breathing treatment to help clear his lungs. Thums smiled weakly around the mask before suddenly convulsing!
. A little while later, Thums was flipping through the pages displayed on the PADD. He grumbled, "This is boring! What is this, some kind of medical treatise? Don't you have any engineering manuals or something?" He tried to get up again, but was reminded he was strapped down. "Aw, c'mon!" he complained.
. Nurse Ratchet came back over and with a slight frown (or was it a scowl?), hit a tab on the PADD to change it over to an engineering journal. "Ah!" he said, "That's better! I like the ...," he coughed, "the ...," he hacked again. "I can't ...," but he went into an even longer coughing fit and couldn't finish his statement.
. As the coughing got rougher, Thums eventually expelled a huge blob of mucus. He stared at it then said, "Uh ... that ain't normal, is it? I don't feel so good."
. Ratchet brought him a nebulizer and set it up for a breathing treatment to help clear his lungs. Thums smiled weakly around the mask before suddenly convulsing!