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Captain Georgiou strode into Shenzhou’s sickbay to find four of her officers in varying states of undress being treated for what looked like bite wounds.
Lieutenant Shavra, the Andorian who’d been leading the away mission, was picking sullenly at the blue blood crusted on her uniform jacket, which she had spread across her lap while one of the medical assistants ran a regenerator over the gashes in her left leg. Ensigns Maxine Harvey and Leo Chen were receiving similar treatment. Further back, two medical officers hovered around Lieutenant Saru, blocking her view of his injuries.
“Report,” Philippa ordered.
Three people started talking at once.
“There was a nest of these freaky raccoon things-” Chen started, only to be interrupted by Shavra.
“It didn’t show up on sensors.”
“Saru said he felt something,” Harvey protested. “I told you we should have listened to him.”
“No, you didn’t! And you’re the one who stepped into the nest.”
“Because you were too afraid to keep moving!”
“Enough!” Philippa snapped, silencing all of them. “I want someone to tell me how this happened, in detail and without editorializing or casting blame. Surely that should not be difficult. You are all Starfleet officers. Let’s start with the medical diagnosis.” She nodded to the doctor on duty.
“Mild to moderate lacerations on all of them,” the doctor said, “mostly to the limbs, though Harvey took one to the ribs as well. Saru got the worst of it, but he’s doing fine. There’s traces of a slow-acting venom in the wounds, but I should be able to neutralize it. Just need a few minutes to synthesize the compound.”
Evidently the machine was working ahead of schedule, because it chimed and pushed out a tray containing a capsule of medication. The doctor strode up to Harvey and put a hypo to her neck. She winced and glared at her, but knew better than to complain under Philippa’s stern eye.
“There, that should counteract the effects of the venom,” the doctor said. “And believe me, that wasn’t easy, not with three different species, one of whom has almost no documentation at all…”
Philippa nodded. “Good work,” she said, refusing to lavish praise like the doctor clearly wanted. Right now, she was far more concerned with that one difficult-to-treat alien.
Saru had remained completely silent throughout this entire exchange, which was her first sign something was wrong. Usually he rarely hesitated to insert his opinion into a conversation. Or report anything that might please his Captain.
As she stepped closer, she could see that he was shivering ever so slightly, and that it had nothing to do with the temperature in the room.
The dermal regenerator, not designed for his species, left smooth greyish scars across his ridged skin as it sealed the gashes left by the creature’s teeth and claws. The lack of any older scars of the same sort told Philippa that it would grow back normally, but it still wasn’t a pleasant sight.
“Lieutenant, your report?”
He jerked his head towards her, as if he hadn’t noticed until just then that she was there, which was another very bad sign, because in normal times he was always very much aware of his surroundings and any slight shift in them, to the point where he could sometimes pick up changes in ship’s functions before the sensors reported the irregularity.
“Captain. I saw…” He hesitated, as if coming up with the words was a tremendous effort. He brushed his free hand unsteadily against his neck.
“Doctor?” Philippa asked, burying her concern.
“Captain, I recommended giving him something for the shock, but he’s refusing,” the doctor said, obviously hoping for Philippa’s override to put an end to the matter.
“Please, no,” Saru insisted. “Anything that means I cannot trust my own senses… I can’t.” He looked desperately at Philippa.
The doctor made an irritated sound. “It’s just the standard treatment. It’s completely safe.”
“Safe for Kelpiens?” Philippa asked, raising an eyebrow.
“According to the computer, yes.” By her tone, the doctor evidently thought that a stupid question. Philippa didn’t appreciate the presumption. The doctor glared at Saru again. “Trust me, you’ll feel a lot better.”
“ It will make it worse ,” Saru hissed. “I- I was given that at the Academy after… an incident. It was not- it was not an enjoyable experience.” An understatement. Philippa could see the tips of his ganglia twitching.
The doctor hummed in disapproval. “There should be a note on your file for adverse reactions in that case.” She eyed him. “Unless you didn’t tell anybody.”
From Saru’s expression, Philippa knew that was exactly the case. “I’m inclined to trust Saru on this,” He was, after all, the only one here with his particular concerns. “Listen to your patient’s wishes, Doctor. And add that note for future reference.”
Beside her, Saru drew a ragged breath and the shaking eased the tiniest bit.
The doctor set down the hypo. “Then I’m keeping him here for observation.”
“It’s your Sickbay. Just let me speak to my officer and then I will leave you to your work.”
The doctor grumbled something and went to run more scans on the others.
Saru sighed. “I apologize, Captain. I do not mean to be obtrusive.”
No time now to lecture him on how advocating for his own needs wasn’t being obtrusive. If he hadn't learned that lesson after years at the Academy, she doubted it was ever going to sink in.
“ If there is a wasp in the room, I should like to know where it is ,” she quoted.
He tilted his head. “Captain?”
“A threat you can track is easier to deal with than one you cannot see. It is not too hard to understand that you would not want to be blinded.”
“Precisely,” Saru said, confidence finally breaking through in the word.
“Now, can you tell me what happened on the planet?” She didn’t like having to push him, but they really couldn’t afford the time to let him get fully settled again. That was one thing he was going to have to learn to deal with on her ship.
“I sensed something in the undergrowth. An intermittent presence, following our path.”
“And you alerted the team to this?”
“I did. They accused me of imagining it.” The sarcasm in the words went a long way to reassuring Philippa that he was almost back to his usual self.
“I see,” she said, casting a sharp glance back at the others. Chen, at least, had the good grace to shrink under her gaze. “And then?”
“We continued southwest from the transport site, along a dense thicket of plant growth. My scans were inconclusive, but I suspect it is one interconnected colony with a shared root system.”
Ever the scientist, this one. “And the attack?”
“There were vibrations in the ground. Just before the creatures emerged. I attempted to warn the away team.”
“He’s right,” Harvey called over. “Uh. Captain. Sorry.”
Philippa sighed. “Thank you,” she said to Saru, ignoring Harvey’s interjection. She stepped into the middle of the room.
“This,” she announced to the away team at large, “is what happens when you do not make use of all available information. You get chewed on. And if you don't want to get chewed out, I suggest you learn that lesson now.”
A chorus of “Yes, Captain” reached her ears. Good.
She interrogated the doctors one more time, to make sure everyone was well on their way to normal. By the time they’d finished, Chen and Shavra had already been dismissed back to quarters to rest.
“I’m going to want to hold onto Harvey and Saru for a bit longer,” the doctor told her.
“Very well,” she said, casting her gaze between the two officers. “I will understand if you are delayed in filing your reports.”
“Captain,” Saru insisted, as she knew he would. “I can continue my work.”
She shook her head. “Saru, you’re shaking. I’m not putting you back on duty yet. Take some time to rest.” Even as she said it, she knew he needed something to focus on, or he’d never stay still. She smiled. “I’m going to need a report on these creatures. Get started.”
He nodded, and when he spoke she could hear the relief in his voice. “Yes, Captain.”
After a few more words to the doctors, she headed back to the bridge, leaving the medical staff to finish their work, and considered what this incident had shown her.
Saru could use a little more daring, and the rest of her crew could use a little more sense. Maybe they could teach each other. Someday soon, she hoped, before they got into another mess like this.