Pennington: The Bond

[Captain Dusk Rose]

I know there is hardly anything here yet, but I'd like somewhere to keep it all posted and organize my thoughts ^_^

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Odyssey (Oberth Class) (Scout)

Odyssey crew:
Captain: Hudson
First Officer and Science Officer: Monahan
Chief Medical Officer: Pennington
Chief Engineer: Cook
Security: Howe

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Captain’s log, Stardate 2356.6.5
On route to our routine inspection of non-intelligent life forms inhabiting several planets of the Cestus system, our sensors picked up some strange disturbances surrounding a moon that has been long recorded as uninhabited. I’ve sent Commander Monahan and a small landing party to the surface to investigate.

Commander Monahan squinted his eyes against the dusty wind of the moon. There was an atmosphere, but the scenery had little to offer but cliffs, dust, and small shrubs. The environment looked ill equipped to foster any life form larger than a rabbit. He ran his hand through his hair in thought, it was flocked with grey, especially at his temples. The much younger security officers looked to him. His tricorder beeped affirmatively.

[Captain Dusk Rose]

"Well what do we have here...this looks-"

Before the commander could finish his thought, he was thrown to the ground.
"Au`rh yy'a, havam!"
The Romulan held him down, reaching for a rock to bludgeon him with. Monahan could hear the brawl behind him for a moment before he was knocked unconscious by a blow to the head. The Romulan drew back the rock again, this time covered in blood, ready to deliver a death blow when another voice called out to him.

"Beest, S'tev!" He spat in reply, preparing to strike again, but one of the security officers grabbed hold of his arm and jerked him away from Monahan. The Romulan managed to wrestle the officer's phaser from him, immediately shooting him through the heart, only to be killed in turn by Security Chief Howe. Howe pointed his phaser to the surviving Romulan threateningly.
"Emergancy, beam us-!" before he could finish the Romulan threw himself from the nearby cliff.

“Idiot! He’ll never survive!” The surviving Security officer commented, but Howe put up a hand to silence him and tapped his comm badge.
“Locate the Romulan, beam him up with us. I want a security team in the transporter room.”

"You're wasting your time." The security officer muttered, examining the body of his fallen comrade.

[Captain Dusk Rose]

Chief Medical Officer Pennington rushed toward them as the crew materialized on the transporter platform.
“It’s too late for him Doc.” Commander Monahan nodded to the security officers who picked up the body of the fallen officer and walked from the platform.
“We lost Ensign Turner.”
“I’m sorry, Commander.”
“Don’t be. There’s another coming.” She looked puzzled, but Monahan just grimaced and cleared the platform.
“Get a lock on him?”
“Aye, sir, beaming him aboard now.” Several security officers stood on either side of Pennington as she watched as a badly injured form appeared before them.

Monahan watched Pennington as a nurse carefully cleaned the blood from his own forehead.
“He has a pulse but…”
“But?” Captain Hudson entered at last.

“It’s on the high end for a human, but dangerously low for a Vulcan.” She finally gives up using the tricorder and checks his pulse with her hand.”
Captain we have no data on Romulan physiology-”
“No time like the present to learn, right Doctor?”
“And gamble with his life?!” She glared disapprovingly as she attached several dermal regeneration pads to the worst of his wounds and began to treat his severe concussion.
“Keep the anti-grav lift here, I want an Isotropic restraint ready.” With out turning away she ordered the two medical officers standing by.
“Yes, Doctor.”

“So is he gonna live?”
“Not if a certain captain keeps distracting his chief medical officer in the process of trying to heal him.”

The Captain raised his eyebrows. “Commander Monahan, if you’re fit, and Lietutenant Commander Howe I want you to give me a debriefing in the Conference room.”
“Aye sir, I can do it.” Monahan thanked the nurse helping him with a sheepish nod and hurried after Howe and the Captain.

[Captain Dusk Rose]

Doctor Pennington let out the breath she'd been holding. She checked the Romulan's temperature with the back of her hand, frustrated with the uselessness of her medical computers in this situation. His temperature was low, his skin deathly pale, and with out any suitable blood for transfusion he'd have to rely on his own body to make up for the loss. With his bones set and concussion repaired, there was little more the Doctor could do.

"At least his heart rate seems to have evened out…" She muttered to herself, crossing her arms and watching the Romulan' labored breathing with distant eyes, working over medical techniques in her mind.

"Shouldn't you have a security team in here?!" the Doctor jumped at the sudden comment.

"I'm more likely to die of a heart-attack if you keep sneaking up on me like that Tasmeel…"

"It's just because you never pay attention." The Andorian walked up behind her and glanced suspiciously down at the Romulan, his antennae twisting back slightly in agitation.

"He's not going to do anything, Tas', except hopefully keep breathing…"

"Why do you have to save him?"

"Aren't you a little curious what a Romulan was doing out here?"

"Romulans… better off dead I'd say."

"Kind of odd for a science officer to say, what about Romulan biology?"

"You're the doctor, you study him."

Alva looked at Tasmeel a little nervously, she still didn't understand him sometimes, even after all the missions they'd been on together.

"Just be careful alright, Alva?"

Pennington whipped up a slightly forced smile and hit him on the arm.
"It's 'Doctor' when I'm in Sickbay, 'Lieutenant'. Don't want my nurses thinking they can ignore me now, do I?"

Tasmeel smiled a little, his antennae pointing at her a moment before he left, but his shoulders still looked tense as he walked away.

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That night Alva found sleep wouldn't take her. Her patient's condition was so bad, and the crew's apparent bias against Romulans made her worry that the Doctor who relieved her wouldn't give him the proper medical attention that was required. If he died, what would happen? Did the Romulans even know that their men had been discovered? Or would a hostile ship be waiting to de-cloak behind them any minute now? Nothing had been seen or heard from Romulans in a long time, why now?

Alva rolled over in her bed, pulling her pillow over her head.

Why did she care anyway…everything she'd ever heard about Romulans was horrible. Their government was infamous for mistreating even its own citizens, and their disdain for other species was well known. Yet, even in those thoughts she found she didn't want him to die, maybe it was because he was her patient under her care, but she knew she had to keep him alive.

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Early morning found Pennington standing wearily before the replicator, despite ordering the same breakfast tea for months on end, she momentarily had trouble recalling the name of the blend. She was just picking up the glass when she heard the Captain's voice.

"Doctor! I need to know if your pati-" Pennington turned around and stared at him with exhausted, rather blood-shot eyes.

"I er…I'm not disturbing you am I?"

"Oh, no." She answered flatly.

"Good…I want you to tell me if the patient is ready for interrogation…"

The blank look on the Doctor's tired face suddenly changed to rage.

"Just, you know, some questions about why he was down there and-"

"Captain, we'll be lucky if this man LIVES, as SOON as he comes to I'll let you know, SIR." She spilled her tea slightly down her front but ignored it.

"If you'll excuse me, Captain."

"Er, yes, as you were."

"Thank you." She stormed to sickbay, turning a few heads. Monahan approached the Captain from behind.

"Better not get sick any time soon, Captain."