<USS Avalon> Log-The Dreamer-Not Epidemic PT1

The Dreamer-Not Epidemic

Part One

-Dodge Thomas



The USS Avalon streaked like an arrow through the velvety blackness of space to 
the rescue of the USS Allegiance. Onboard, engineering prepared repair crews, 
security was in the process of putting a boarding party together, medical 
prepared for physical casualties while the counselor prepared for the less 
tangible ones. In short, everyone was busy--from the lowliest ensign to the 
Captain himself--hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.

Dodge Thomas was torn from a blissfully unaware slumber by the harsh and rather 
unnecessary (or so he felt) wake up call he had had no part in ordering. 

?Ensign Thomas, please report to engineering. Ensign Thomas, report to 
engineering.?

?Bloody hell.? He grumbled groggily, rubbing his eyes and rolling over in his 
bed. ?It?s all a bad dream?It?s all a bad dream?It?s all a bad dream??

?Ensign Thomas, please respond.? The pleasant female voice had become 
noticeably less pleasant.

He decided to give in. ?Ensign Thomas reporting. I?ll be down in about ten 
minutes.?

?Acknowledged. Engineering out.?

It was turning out to be one of those days.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

It could be said that engineering was a calm and peaceful place in comparison 
to the rest of the ship. It could be said that while other departments were 
tearing their hair out trying to get organized, engineering was on top of 
things and up to the minute, ready to go at the first sign of danger.

It could be said, but it won?t be.

The doors to engineering slid apart and Dodge was assaulted visually, 
auditorially, and oddly enough, physically. A light-weight plasma conduit flew 
out of the starboard overhead jeffries tube and glanced Dodge?s forehead.

?What the hell?? He nearly shouted over the din.

?Oh, Sorry Mister Thomas. I didn?t see you there a minute ago.? Leila Criswell 
stuck her head out of the jeffries tube entrance and smiled widely.

?That?s because I wasn?t here a minute ago. What exactly are you doing taking 
plasma conduits out of there??

?Oh, I wasn?t sure what we?d need over on the Allegiance, so I thought I?d 
bring a bit of everything.? Her smile widened, and she vanished into the hole 
once more.

Dodge sighed and rubbed the lump that was beginning to manifest on his head.

?Hey Thomas!? Sirius? rather gruff voice called out from nearby the warp 
antimatter injector manifolds.


Dodge turned to see what the other man was going on about, ignoring the minor 
lack breech in protocol. ?Yes mister Black??

?We managed to get that damned forcefield up and running at about o?three 
hundred hours today. Aguatequa is already off her shift. I think she was 
getting a bit tired.?

Hobbes Harvey stepped out from behind the platform, murmuring to himself as 
usual. ?People?sleep?.people.?

Sirius screwed his face up oddly. ?Aren?t you tired Hobbes? You?ve been on 
since last night., nearly fifteen hours ago. You should get some sleep.?

Hobbes looked up from the container he was packing with various engineering 
paraphernalia. ?I hate to sleep.,? He said plainly, as if he were reading the 
ingredients of his breakfast. ?I despise those little slices of death. It?s 
so?unproductive?yes, yes?.sleeping is?..of course I do?..people?..sleep??.three 
point seven four eight variance of four percent offset by nine.?

Dodge gave Sirius a helpless look that said ?he may be nuts, but he gets the 
job done faster and more efficiently than any two of us put together?. Sirius 
understood. 

?What frequency did you finally use to get the forcefield to stabilize, mister 
Black.?

?Um?just a sec.? Sirius pulled up some data on a screen and paused for a 
second. ?Okay, here we go. Three point seven four eight variance of four 
percent?.offset.?by??

Both he and Dodge stared at Hobbes curiously. 

Hobbes stared back, his eyes lazily surveying both of the other men. ?Nine?? He 
asked before returning to the container and his conversation with himself.

Dodge perked an eyebrow, giving Sirius the same dubiously helpless look he had 
before. ?Well, at any rate, I?m glad you got things to work out okay.?

?Yea. Good thing too, cause if we do encounter any enemies, I want this baby to 
hold up to anything short of a supernova.? He came close to patting the 
anti-matter/matter reaction chamber, thought better of it, and stuck his hands 
in his pocket. ?Have you decided who goes on the team yet?? 

?I?m not even sure if they?re going to need an engineering team. Besides,? he 
gave engineering an expansive gesture with his left arm. ?Do you honestly think 
that any of us are ready for an actual away mission? Most of the techs haven?t 
seen the light of day for months, crawling about in jeffries tubes, working on 
service decks, or just plain hiding under their beds. I wouldn?t be surprised 
if one of them passed out from all the excitement right now!? He smiled widely.

Then, to his surprise (oddly enough), one of the engineering techs did drop 
right then and there. Ten feet away from dodge, Crewman Mike Mulligan had been 
working on a console. One second he was standing, and then one concussive blow 
to the head by the panel it hit on his way down later, he was unconscious. 
Dodge ran over, as did Sirius and several other techs. Right about then, 
emergency alarms went off. He skidded around and located the source of the 
alarm--the environmentals control. Dodge sprinted over and after a quick 
readout shouted back to whoever was listening: ?Polaron radiation! We?re flying 
through a polaron radiation field!?

Out of the corner of his eye, Dodge could have sworn that he saw Ensign Harvey 
pale noticeably. 

?We need to remodulate the shields to block out the radiation.? He said calmly, 
even as radiation could pass through the hull at any minute and strike him 
down.?

Shuffling?.then a shout.

?Done!? 

Dodge looked up to where the voice had issued from. ?Very nice, Miss Criswell.? 
Dodge nodded admirably. ?Three points for paying attention in class.? 

Leila Criswell returned the curt nod and then dove back into the jeffries tube.

Attention almost immediately returned to Crewman Mulligan.

?Is he dead?? He heard one of the crewmen ask nervously.

?I can?t tell,? he responded shakily. ?Someone, grab the emergency medical kit, 
over there.? He felt for a pulse. Weak, but present. This wasn?t his field, 
though. ?Sickbay,? he tapped his combadge. ?We have a possible medical 
emergency in main engineering.

The answer was simple. ?Medical teams are on the way.? 

?Everyone, stand back. Good,? someone had just delivered the little silver box 
of emergency medical supplies. ?There should be an emergency blanket in the 
medical kit. Take it out and lay it on top of him.?

Right about the time they had managed to figure out how to unfold the wispy, 
foil-like thermal blanket, a team of trained physicians burst into the room and 
tossed the somewhat useless wad of silvery flimsiness away. It took a few 
seconds for it to actually hit the ground, Dodge observed with a detached sort 
of fascination. By the time he looked back to Crewman Mulligan, they had 
already hefted him up on a gurney and were preparing to take him to sickbay.

One of the med-techs walked briskly up to Dodge. 

?What happened to him? What signs or symptoms was he displaying prior to his 
loss of consciousness? How long has he been displaying--?

?I?m an engineer, damn it. Not a doctor.?

?Oh?right. Thank you for your assistance..? 

And with that, the medical people and Crewman Mulligan were gone.

The problems caused by the polaron radiation, however, were not.

Immediately following the med-techs out of engineering was a very pale, very 
sweaty looking Hobbes Harvey. He was silent, an attribute not often (Hell, 
never!) associated with him.

?Mister Harvey, where are you going?? Dodge inquired politely.

?Maybe he got tired finally.? Sirius interjected helpfully.

?I rather doubt that.? Dodge replied. ?I think there?s more going on here than 
meets the eye.

?Agreed.? Sirius nodded. ?Shall we follow him??

?I think it would be in all of our best interests to try and figure out what?s 
going on here.? He tapped his combadge. ?Ensign Criswell. You?re in charge of 
engineering until I return.?

?What?? Sirius looked sincerely hurt.

?Aye sir.? Came the muffled response from Dodge?s combadge. He looked at Sirius 
meaningfully. ?You?re coming with me.?

?Yes sir.?

The two of them stalked out of engineering, glancing up just as they left to 
see the lower half of Ensign Criswell struggling to free herself from the 
jeffries tube. 

__________________________________________________________________________________

Hobbes Harvey was not difficult to find. Dodge and Sirius had proceeded to the 
turbolift, assuming that he wouldn?t head into the locked computer control 
room. Hobbes was sitting in fetal position on the floor of the turbolift, 
rocking back and forth gently. There was no noise, save the sound of his hollow 
breathing and the voice of the computer simultaneously requesting that Dodge 
and Sirius move so the doors could close and inquiring of Hobbes a deck or 
destination.

?Please clear turbolift doors?.Please state deck or destination?Please clear 
turbolift doors.?

?You gotta give the old girl one thing,? Sirius observed. ?She?s polite.?

The two of them entered the turbolift with Hobbes and the doors slid shut, much 
to the gratitude of the turbolift itself. ?Sickbay.? Dodge stated clearly.

Hobbes? breathing quickened, though it was still shallow. His voice was 
spherical. ?No. Not sickbay. Not again.?

?Hold turbolift. Hobbes. It?s me. Dodge. Do you want to tell me what?s the 
matter?? Dodge felt awkward, as he was neither doctor nor counselor, but had 
been asked to perform both tasks in less than an hour. But Hobbes was a friend, 
or at least, Dodge considered him one, and listening was the sort of thing that 
friends often do.

Hobbes continued in his sickly manner. ?The polaron?it?s?Cardassians! They?ve 
come back?Don?t let them take me?Please, Dodge, you can?t let them take me 
again!? He was now breathing very quickly, and Dodge feared that he might pass 
out or something equally as bad.

?Calm down. We?re nowhere near any Cardassians. We?re at peace now, remember? 
They aren?t going to take you. You don?t need to be afraid. It?s going to be 
okay.? Dodge tried to be as reassuring as possible, and it must have worked 
because Hobbes took a deep breath and calmed down slightly.

?Poor Mulligan.? He said flatly, talking more to himself than to the two other 
men in the turbolift with him.

?What do you mean?? Sirius spoke for the first time. ?What happened to him.?

Hobbes shuddered, sighed, then with the pointedness a child often possesses, 
spoke.

?He?s become one of them, one of?? His voice broke off.

?One of what?? Dodge asked curiously.

Hobbes? eyes focused on Dodge?s face for a moment before dropping to the floor 
again. 

?He has become a Dreamer-Not.?



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