A Matter of Trust Part IV:
Posted on Thu May 14th, 2026 @ 1:14pm by Lieutenant JG Malcolm Beckett M.D. & Lieutenant Alexandra Blackstone MD/DSAPM & Lieutenant JG Jezra Siv MD & Lieutenant JG T'Para MD & Ensign Iozhara
2,096 words; about a 10 minute read
Mission:
Peril at the Unification Accords
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: MD 11, 1245 Hours
continued fromA Matter of Trust, Part II: Vitals
As the computer began its comparison everything clicked into place in Alex' mind. She stepped closer, one eye on the visual display from the computer as she placed a hand on Jezra's brow to feel her temp. "Beckett... I may have to attempt a meld with Jezra... she seems to be holding this off better than T'Varel did and if you are right I may be able to help her that way more effectively than with further medication."
"With respect, Doctor, Dr. Siv wasn't pleased with you doing the first one. What makes you think she'd consent to havin' this done on herself?" Malcolm asked. He wasn't rude, just direct.
Alex chuckled softly "Aye; she wasn't; though... that was largely due to the lack of explanation and communication. Her and I spent some significant time discussing the merits and cons of it." She caught Becketts' gaze over Jezra. "It is unknown territory... but I may be able to help the symbiont through a meld with the host... bolster its ability to rebuff the Neural shock; perhaps even aid it to settle somewhat. If it is any comfort... it isn't my first resort but it would appear that she is trending very much the same way and conventional medicine is less than optimally effective."
"What kind of danger are you putting yourself in, here?" Malcolm pressed. "I don't need to be fighting for all three of you."
"As a precaution, I need a neural stimulator and a high dose of Acetylcholine administered to myself. That will bolster my own mental fortitude and hopefully minimize the risk of Neural Shock bleeding to me... The Neural stim should probably be placed near its maximum setting for me; the more active my neural status the better the chances of not succumbing myself." Alex' face turned upwards slightly as she thought. "A Cardio-Damper should be placed on the wrist of my hand that is touching the host; in the event that you need to shock her it will keep me safe. Additionally a dose of Lexorin should be administered to her to reduce the chance of any mental health complications afterwards."
At that specific moment an alarm went off, its shrill tone cutting through the conversation as Jezra's neural activity slipped lower by a degree. Alex shot the entirety of the medical team a questioning glance but said nothing for the moment as her focus found the readouts again.
"If you are doing this, you also need a chair," Malcolm added a hint of defeat in his voice. "And we need to alert the Captain. If this could have been an attack, Security needs to get involved before anyone else is hurt."
Alex nodded her assent centering herself as she prepped to initiate the meld. "Agreed; we don't have much time on our end though so we need to get this moving, quickly."
"Petty Officer Jayne, Comm Dr. T'Para and Nurse Iozhara," Malcolm ordered, "We need them here now. Then bring in a Mobile Triage Chair for Dr. Blackstone so that we can begin monitoring her vitals."
While the nurse's assistant took to his orders Malcolm continued.
"Doctor, I am going to have T'Para and Iozhara monitor you," Malcolm instructed. "Nurse Solae, you stay on symbiont vitals and Charlie, you keep working on the host, and communicate."
"Computer, send a message to Captain Johansen, Security Level 5. Captain, no time to discuss, Dr. Siv is unconscious in Sickbay, and we suspect another attack. No verification. Treating now. Respond Appropriately. Dr. Beckett."
T'para came through the doors, having changed into her medical scrubs. "T'para responding for duty. Let's get you seen to Alex." She said in a warm and friendly tone.
Moments later, Iozhara rushed through the secondary entry to Sickbay, her hands behind her head, tying-back her auburn red locks into a tight ponytail. Her eyes meandered along each of the medical officers present before settling on Malcolm.
"Is this another attack?" she asked, reaching pushing her way toward the biobed.
"We're not sure, but it might be," Malcolm confirmed. "Dr. Blackstone things she may be able to regulate the vitals through a mindmeld. If it is an attack they're holding on a lot longer than the Ambassador was able to."
He looked at Iozhara, "We're going to need to monitor Dr. Blackstone throughout the meld. Be ready for anything."
Iozhara nodded, taking a position near the mobile triage chair that Alex was settled into.
"Yes, doctor."
Solae swallowed his unease to nod. It didn't take a telepath to sense the subtle tension that blanketed them once Alex mentioned a meld. The details of T'Varel's death had remained pretty tightly controlled, but the conversation seemed to imply that something similar happened with T'Varel.
A slow flashing yellow light began to pulse over the exits of the operating theater, indicating the ship was at Yellow Alert.
Iozhara risked a quick glance at the new alert status, her eyes returning to Alex's vitals. She found herself placing a hand on the Vulcan hybrid's shoulder--not for any clinical reason, it kept her connection with Blackstone in a way that couldn't be described.
Alex settled into the chair that was brought and nodded to the team around her. "Alright, I leave this side of things in your hands." She checked to ensure that everything she had requested for her own safety was in place and then with a soft exhalation of stressed breath she placed her fingers in the proper positioning on Jezra's brow and closed her own eyes as she softly chanted the mantra for a meld.
T'para's blue eyes were looking at the readings. Everything was holding steady for the moment.
Alex glanced to T'Para momentarily giving her as warm a smile as she could manage in the moment and then closed her eyes, leaning forward into her positioning and quietly speaking the mantra for a meld. After a few moments her body relaxed just a touch though the contact did not break. There was a brief spike in her neural activity and then it balanced out, looking almost as if she were dreaming.
Iozhara glanced from Jezra's face to Blackstone's. She exchanged a reassuring look with T'Para, noting the neural activity settling into an orderly rhythm.
She turned to Solae. "Any reciprocal activity from the symbiont?"
Solae looked up at the readings. "No changes, yet." His eyes drifted toward Alex, then to Iozhara, looking for some assurance that everything would be ok.
Several tense moments passed without incident and without warning Alex' Neural Activity spiked extraordinarily high though they maintained a stable pattern, almost as though she were straining herself to work through some sort of issue mentally.
"Interesting," Malcolm noted, looking at Blackstone's vitals briefly before turning back to Jezra's vitals. "I don't know how long we should give this. No change with with Jezra or Siv. We need to keep looking at other options. Charlotte, check on the simulations I started."
Charlotte nodded and turned to the head of the biobed and accessed the program from the terminal next to it. "It's working, Doctor, but we still don't have a definitive answer."
As Charlotte spoke, Jezra's vitals began to level off some, though her neural activity still showed signs of stress, her heartrate while elevated, began to stabilize.
"Maybe it's working," Malcolm said cautiously. "Keep a close eye, everyone."
T'para gave a thumbs up as her blue eyes were locked on the monitoring screen.
Iozhara felt like breathing a sigh of relief but she knew better than to count the proverbial chickens before they hatch. Instead, something began to rise in her--something to ensure everything remained safe and steady.
"Doctor," she said, her voice low. "I believe it would be prudent to have twelve milligrams of inaprovaline prepped in the event of synaptic collapse."
* * * After the Mind Meld * * *
There was a brief pause after Alex ended the meld, then Jezra's form relaxed into the biobed. It was as if she had finally let go of all the tension in her body. Once that happened, the monitor set off a new alarm. It alerted to a sudden change in neural activity; on the readout, Siv's activity spiked while Jezra's... disappeared. The only activity from the host's mind were the electrical impulses of autonomic processes.
"Jezra's neural activity just blanked," Charlotte called out. "I'm picking up nothing, but autonomic functions are normal."
"Prepare the neural stimulator," Malcolm ordered. "Dr. Blackstone, are you with us?" Malcolm asked, before ordering the treatment. "Did you find anything?"
Alex didn't respond immediately, instead the alarms denoting the onset of neural shock sounded for a minute before ceasing as Alex came to with a start, sweat beading upon her brow. She began to sit up and had to stop herself as her head split with a fierce, pounding pain. She rubbed her temples and turned her head to look at Jezra. When she spoke her voice was slightly hoarse, "I... think I have some clues. How is Dr. Siv?"
Muted Red Alert klaxons began sounding as Dr. Blackstone responded, the flashing yellow light over the exits changing to red. The skilled medical team remained focused on their patient.
"The symbiont's neural activity just spiked, we've lost Jezra's. I've prepared a neural stimulator. Do you think it's appropriate?" Malcolm asked.
Alex sat up fully; slower and more carefully this time; bracing herself for vertigo and her head spinning but to her relief she had neither. She leaned forward in the chair she was still in and placed a hand on Jezra's shoulder before glancing at the vitals for the Host and Symbiont individually. She was silent for a moment as she watched before she turned to look at Malcolm. "I think... and this is sort of a working hypothesis; but I think that the Symbiont has somehow reversed the typical bond between host and symbiont. We should probably prepare a report to forward to the Trill Symbiont Commission. It would appear that the host is comatose, at least for now and the Symbiont is managing the baseline. Hopefully; it buys Jezra time to heal."
Iozhara placed a soft hand on Doctor Blackstone's back the moment a tiny alarm sounded from the monitor.
"Please, Doctor," she said with caution. "Your blood pressure is quite low."
Alex nodded, leaning back in the chair without a response.
Solae watched the readings. He was startled when Jezra's readings changed, but he kept his eyes on the monitor. "It looks like the medications we've supplied are starting to work," he commented. "Pulse is beginning to stabilise, and the symbiont's stress levels are dropping." It was highly concerning to him that their neural activities changed so dramatically. He didn't want to think about the ramifications, even as they intruded into his mind. Did it mean she was...
No. Solae shook his head. Jezra's body was certainly responding to medication. Some part of her was still alive. "Her isoboramine levels are the only thing not stabilising," he reported as he continued to read the monitor. "They are still low."
"Start woth 5 cc's of benzocitazine," Malcolm ordered. "If we don't see an improvement, we may need to start her on an IV."
The Doctor then took a moment to glance at Dr. Blackstone. "Someone get her a glass of juice or a cookie. Whatever she will eat."
Lieutenant J.G. Jezra Siv (& Solae)
Chief Medical Officer
USS Astrea
Lieutenant Alexandra Blackstone
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Astrea
Lieutenant JG Malcolm Beckett, MD
Medical Officer
USS Astrea
(NPC of Remy Johansen)
Lieutenant JG T'Para, MD
Medical Officer
USS Astrea
(NPC of Xalanth)
Ensign Iozhara
Nurse
USS Astrea
(NPC of JB Dorsainvil)
Ensign Charlotte Dawes
Nurse
USS Astrea
(NPC of Remy Johansen)
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