*** Bridge * USS Gott *** Ra'nar had headed back to sickbay and Rangi made her way to the Bridge, eager to see for herself how the Bridge crew were. She had a companion on her travels, a marine who took his job of security to great lengths, stopping her at each intersection and door with a raised hand while he checked for X'Chi. Rangi knew it was sensible to have an armed guard with her but it delayed things somewhat. By the time they arrived at the Bridge, her patience was becoming a little frayed and she couldnt prevent herself saying.. "Corporal..if there were X'Chi on the Bridge we would 'know' about it!" as she stepped past him through the doorway. She had expected to see the General and Shane too sitting in the command chairs but neither were present. Instead it was Athena who turned to her. "Where is everyone?" Rangi asked looking around and meaning the CO and XO by the word 'everyone' "General Bretam is in his ready room" Athena replied "...and I'm not sure where Shane is.... but theres something wrong" With a frown Rangi turned away, walked to the ready room door and sounded the chime. Keylor sat at the captains desk. He was slumped over the desk in the most comfortable position he could find, arms folded and head nestled in his arms. With his strength waining with every passing moment, he now tried to recharge his batteries in order to continue with the mission and return home. He surrendered to the fatigue and drifted aimlessly into his thoughts. When the chime on the door rang, he did not stir, did not move a muscle and remained helplessly limp in his fatigue. Rangi sounded the chime a second time and bent her head nearer the door to listen for sounds from within. There were none. She straightened up and pressed the 'open' button on the door panel, walking in as soon as the door slid open. She saw the slumped figure of Keylor, apparently sleeping at his desk but as she walked forward, Rangi could see a sheen of sweat on his face and the slightly labored breathing. "General?" she said in a suspicious tone and hastening her steps repeated herself. "General!" She half circled the desk, setting her medcase down on its surface and seeing for the first time the torn shirt, darkened with dried blood across his shoulder. Feeling a hand on his right shoulder, he started to drift back into conciousness. "Who is it" he mumbled incoherently as he tried to rouse himself from his daze. He slowly lifted his head to see who it was. As he turned it to one side he winced in pain, this time without trying to hide the discomfort. Squinting his eyes he saw the outline of a teal clad person. "Doctor?" he asked feebly. Struggling to sit up, he slowly pushed himself up and back into the chair with an almost uncontrolable motion he flopped back, his body near limp. "Its alright General.." Rangi was horrified. To say he was in a bad state would have been an understatement. "What's happened sir?" she asked assisting him to sit back as gently as she could and trying to assess the wound that had obviously been bleeding for sometime. She reached across for the medcase, turning it to her as she pulled it forward across the desk and flipping it open. She glanced at Keylor hurredly as she took out the tricorder and switched it on. Keylor blinked his eyes several times. He was not sure how long he had time to rest, but it did not feel like long. With his left hand he reached up and rubbed his eyes. He had forgotten the wound to the palm of his hand was still wrapped and it grated against his skin of his face. Now more alert, but still groggy and tired he could see Rangi scanning him with a tricorder. He looked over to his left hand and notice the still moist blood on the bandage. Holding towards Rangi he mutterd. "Never had the Cardassian tend to this. Since you are here could you please change the dressing?" he asked. The scan results showed trouble and Rangi, studying them, recognised the now familiar pattern of the virus. As Keylor spoke and made a poor attempt to lift his bandaged hand, Rangi looked down at it with a feeling of foreboding. She set the tricorder aside and gently taking his hand she began to unwrap the soaking bandage and asked. "Where did you do this Sir?" Keylor tried to smile a bit. "Oh I had a nasty run in with a bug. Had to defend myself with one of their claws. Cut myself when I pulled it form its previous owner." he said. For a second Rangi closed her eyes. {A nasty run in with a bug?...oh geeez} "You should be more careful Sir !" she responded, in an effort to sound normal and unworried. "Let's see what you've done. Oh my...." The wound, though small and on the upper part of the palm, was now swollen and 'angry' It oozed blood, was obviously septic and confirmed the site of infection. "Not pretty is it General" she stated. " Just rest it back on the desk. I'll clean it up for you...but first you need a shot of this." She lifted a hypospray from its case, ready loaded with the antivirus serum and pressed it near Keylors neck. Keylor slumped back as Rangi worked her magic. He listened to the hiss of the hypo spray. Quickly the area where she injected the hypo was cold and he could feel the cool liquid quickly spread through his body. Goose bumps formed on his neck as a chill formed in the back of his neck. "What was that?" he asked closing his eyes and tilting his head back. "Oh a little something Private Ra'nar and I concocted." she replied studying his face. When he opened his eyes, she gave a thin smile. "I'll clean this for you Sir..it won't take a moment. What happened to your shoulder?" she asked. "Ra'nar? " he said curious about the origins of the injection." Well I will trust you it is good for me. After all I am needed to guide the crew, at least for the moment." he said grinning a bit. "My shoulder? well that was a surprise attack from one of the X'chi. Thought it still hurts like hell, Ra'nar patched it up just the same. Though I get a little chilly back there. Have not seen any clean shirts laying about have you?" he asked "Afraid not..no." Rangi replied, wondering now just how many wounds he had received. {He's had 10 ccs..how long ago did he get this?} she asked herself. "Yes General..Ra'nar has been giving us a hand in sickbay." She began to rebandage the treated hand. "Were you the only one injured from the Bridge crew?" she asked. Keylor shrugged one shoulder, his left one, jerking his left hand a bit as Rangi held it and tried to rebandage it. "Aye Lynch, a few others were injured taking the Bridge. I think they have all been sent to sickbay by now." he stated. "Have you not seen the injured in sick bay? Many of them were to be reported off worse than me. I hope you are not favoring me over the others just because I am the captain." he asked quizically in a feeble voice. " Sorry Sir." Rangi said, pausing a moment in the act of bandaging the wound.As he relaxed his arm, she continued the job. Glancing at his face she replied. "Yes...sickbay is very busy and ofcourse I'm favouring you...thats a perk of your job Sir!" She smiled to him when he met her eye but thinking that Lynch hadnt been in sickbay the last time she was there. "How does that feel?" she asked. " More comfortable? I'd like to examine your shoulder please." Keylor weakly nodded his head and flexed his fingers. "Fine for now." he said in response to his hand. Slowly pulling his head back up he leaned forward the best as he could. "Ok how is that?" "It's fine...can you just......thats better." Keylor eased himself sideways in the chair and Rangi touched the remnants of the shirt, now stiff with dried blood. "I have something to get this off with." she said, reaching again to the medcase and this time taking a spray canister that she used over the wound. Carefully peeling back the material, now freed from his skin, she took a long breath in as she saw the site. It too was beginning to show signs of infection. "Well Sir...he made a good job of this." "I hope so. Would not look good for a Cardassian medic not treating a Bajoran general well. Some people still have a grudge against his kind." he said plainly. "So have you seen Guzman lately? I wonder if he has been able to check in with his favorite doctor lately." he asked. Rangi smiled to herself at the name and even though he couldn't see her, shook her head. "No I havent seen him for ages. I thought he would be on the Bridge...but Athena is in charge." She applied a clean dressing and stepped forward the better to see Keylor's face. "He's alright is he?" she asked. Keylor nodded feebly, "Yes he looked well enough... less tired than I feel at least." he said while Rangi hovered behind him. "How about some thing to perk me up... a stimulant of some kind. We have several hours ahead of us before we can all rest and I need to be more alert than I am." he asked. " I 'can' give you something... but you do need to rest Sir at least for a while." she replied, not happy with the idea that he return to duty immediately. She stood in front of him and hesitated. "General...there's something you don't know. We found that those wounded by the X'Chi weren't responding to conventional treatment. The insects carry a virus." "I will get rest when I can, but for now I need to be more alert., I can barely keep my eyes open. " he said in a frustrated voice. "Now about this virus? You have a cure for it?" he wondered. Rangi leaned back on the edge of the desk and told him fully all that had happened. "We're confident that its a cure Sir." she ended "...but the deciding factor is the length of time between contracting and first treating it. The shot I gave you needs to be repeated in an hour." "In an hour? Well since rank has its privileges, come find me in an hour and give me another shot. Now how about that stimulant doctor? I there are a few things I need to do before we destroy the chimera." He said sounding a bit anxious and annoyed. Her expression told him she wasn't too happy to give the stimulant but she did as he asked and loaded a hypo spray. She administered it. "Thats Formazine." she said and began to clear the used equipment, packing it back into her case. Keylor listened to the hiss as Rangi administered the drug. If the former shot was cool, this one was the exact opposite. A warm feeling spread quickly from his neck. He leaned back in the chair and listened to Rangi pack up her medical kit. He waited a minute or so for the rush of energy, there was none. The only thing that seemed to do is help hem not nod off. He opened his eyes which by now no longer felt like they were tied to heavy weights. Seeing Rangi place the last loose item in her case he reached up and tapped her on the arm. "Doctor. Give me another one. " He said. "It is helping but I need more energy. We will be destroying the chimera soon. I need to return to the chimer and I need as much energy as I can have to get over there and back quickly." Rangi looked at him in disbelief almost doubting that she had heard him correctly. "Return to the ship?..Chimera?...but Sir!...its been evacuated...its really not advisable to go..." He silenced her arguement with a wave of his hand and she stepped aside as he moved from his chair. "Sir...with respect.....if Sha..if Commander Guzman was here, he would say the same...your place is on the Bridge. Please General...reconsider this idea." He shook his head and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. 'First of all I am her captain. If any one has to send her to her demise, she at least needs a fond fare well form her captain. Secondly I need to retrieve a few things, personal things that cannot be replaced. It will be fine. Shoot me up with another shot and I will be able to get over there, and back in no time." He said looking at her disapproving gaze. "Doctor. Just give me the shot." He said implying an order but stopping short of saying so. Tight lipped and wondering how to dissuade him, Rangi swapped the vials in the hypospray. She met his eye with disapproval in her own. "If you insist Sir." she said quietly and once again pressed the spray to his neck. "This is hyperimine. Its longer lasting than the first....but I'm not happy to do this and I'd like that on record." At the hiss of the second shot, Keylor immediately felt a rush of energy. "Oh?!" he said as the fatigue he once felt was not replace with a feeling of invincibility. "Ok doctore that should do. "He said as he slowl rotated his head to loosen up his neck. I should be back on the ship in no time." He added as he he moved towards the door to the bridge. Rangi followed him towards the door and voiced her final argument. "You need a repeat shot of the antivirus within an hour sir. I cant 'stress' how important that is." Keylor nodded, "Of course Doctor. Meet me back here in an hour. " he said curtly as he stepped out on to the bridge. Now full of vigor he walked past the crew and headed to a transporter room. *** End Log *** Bgen Bretam Keylor Captan USS Chimera & LtCmdr Rangi Summers CMO/2XO USS Chimera