Stray Photons

Posted on Mon Apr 12th, 2010 @ 2:12pm by Lieutenant Chihiro Ogino MD & Captain Benjamin Byrne

Mission: Metronian Diplomacy
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: MD22 1512hrs

Chihiro had been checking the crew for any signs of photonic beings among the crew. The small class of children strolled into sickbay with their teacher from the ships crew. Hikari among them.
"Right then, each of you is only getting scanned then you can go back to class" Chihiro said nicely to them. She started scanning, and came to Hikari.

"Don't worry" she said as she scanned. Her Tricorder beeped; Hikari wasn't a photonic, but according to the tricorder she had been in contact with one during the last forty eight hours.
"Hikari, just sit over there a minute" Chihiro told her. She had to make sure she was the only one. Unfortunately she wasn't; another child in her class showed the same. Jacob Byrne.

=A= Sickbay to Commander Byrne, can you come down here please? =A= Chihiro asked over the comm.

"Have you got something, Doctor?" Byrne asked. Having been walking past sickbay when the doctor called, he decided to forgo responding on the com lines. He immediately noticed the presence of his son in the small group of children - there weren't many, but where had they come from, he wondered, still unsure as to having even so many as these five children onboard.

"Yes Commander" Chihiro said politely. "Unfortunately Jacob and Hikari show unusual photonic readings. Its like they have bumped into one or been in contact with them" Chihiro explained. "However its only these two, the other children and everyone else on the ship are clear" She explained.

"Could it be a malfunction in the ship's holographic systems?" He knew that the Endeavour was outfitted with holoemitters on all decks, so if the holodecks failed to shut down all elements of a program, leaving the holodeck wouldn't stop the photonic particles from following a person around.

"I'm a doctor not an engineer" Chihiro simply stated. "But if so, why only these two and no one else on the ship?" She asked.

"Jacob," Benjamin said, calling his son over, as he went down on his haunches to be at the same height as the 8 year old. "When was the last time you were in the holodeck?"

The small boy looked up at the ceiling as he thought back, before responding confidently with a "This morning. Me and Mum went for a walk on Betazed."

"Was there anyone else in there with you?"

"No, it was just us two. What's going on?"

Smiling and patting his son's head as he stood up, his answer that it should all be OK being in his body language, Ben turned towards the chief medical officer. "I'd be willing to bet your daughter went in the holodecks sometime recently too, not with the rest of the children. I'll have Lieutenant Kinu check out the holographic systems onboard."

"Ok, but no one else who has been on the holodeck is showing these readings" Chihiro told Ben.

"It might be something to do with the specific programs. Keep looking, Doctor. I'll be in Engineering," Benjamin told Chihiro, before patting his son on the top of his head and heading out of sickbay.

--
Commander Benjamin J. Byrne
Commanding Officer

&

Lieutenant Chihiro Ogino
Chief Medical Officer
USS Endeavour NCC-86105