The Trek

1: A Dire Situation

You wake to the sound of screaming and a stampede in the corridor outside your quarters. Located in the habitat ring near upper pylon 3, it's usually high-traffic, but you've never seen a stampede like this one. Quickly you press your comm badge and ask ops what's going on.

"The Romulans attacked. Some kind of poison." Replies Sisko, "get down there, Lieutenant, and help Dr. Bashir treat the wounded. And ask around, see if you can find out exactly what the hell happened."

Quickly, you pull on your uniform and head into the corridor The fleeing crowd has diminished, but you still have to fight against the crowd until you reach the pylon. The sight before you is terrifying, and even worse, eerily familiar.

There are about a dozen bodies scattered throughout the corridor, some crying or whimpering in pain, others trembling and convulsing, and some stiff and still. But the one thing they all have in common is the greying skin, purple veins, and red boils stemming from various puncture wounds.

Suddenly you remember where you saw this before. In a Cardassian labor camp, after the Romulans attacked. Luckily the Cardassians have a pleasure drug that can counteract the Romulan poison. The only problem is that it's grown on a remote but heavily guarded farming planet in Cardassian space.

"There you are Lieutenant, help me get them down to sick bay and research a cure." Bashir gestures to the wounded.

"No need," you reply. "There's only one drug that will help, and it's grown only on a secure planet under Cardassian rule."

"Then let's buy some from them, or surely the Federation could negotiate a trade."

"I've tried to no avail. The Cardassians deny they have it. I'll tell Sisko and see if I can get a medical officer to come with me. It's a three day trek with no shuttle or any contact once on the ground. I suggest you put the infected in stasis. It'll give them the best chance of survival."

"I'm coming with you." Replies Bashir, looking stubborn. You can tell that it would be impossible to change his mind.

"Alright. But we still need Sisko's approval. I'll head to ops now and request permission."

Five minutes later, you walk into the briefing room where you know Sisko is. It turns out he's in a briefing with Odo, the senior staff, and several Starfleet security officers.

"You better have a damn good reason for interrupting my briefing, Lieutenant." Barks Sisko, standing up.

"Sir," you begin. "I know the poison used, and I also know there is only one cure, a pleasure drug grown on a Cardassian planet. And the Cardassians deny its existence, so diplomatic routes are no use. I request permission to take Bashir and a runabout on a four-day mission to collect some of that drug to save our infected."

Sisko only paces over to the window in response, staring out into space. Lost in thought. At last, he responds. "Normally, I'd say no, but Chief O'Brien is infected, and we're going to need him to put this station back in order"

"Thank you sir." You reply and walk out the door. You press your comm badge. "Bashir, meet me in runabout pad A in 15 minutes. Grab clothes and rations. We'll be 3 days without any tech or communication."

"I just put the last patient in stasis," comes the reply. "See you in 15 minutes."

10 minutes later, after replicating an extra uniform, rations, a sleeping bag, and a tent (four person, you don't think Julian would want to be that close) you arrive outside runabout pad A.

After about another 3 minutes, Bashir arrives with a sleeping bag, rations, a change of uniform, and a bag of medical equipment.

"Leave the equipment. We won't be able to carry it with us. Any electrical signatures will give us away." You glance at his hip. "Bring the phaser, just in case, but leave it in the runabout."

The two of you enter the runabout, and get situated at the controls.

"Ops to runabout A, docking clamps released. You're clear."

"Thank you sir." You reply.

You leave the station at ¼ impulse, and then jump to full warp to head towards Cardassian space. Time is of the essence after all.

After about an hour of awkward silence and even more awkward conversation, you fall asleep.

When you finally wake, about 3 hours later, you still feel tired. Which is normal, given that you got less than 6 hours sleep total in the past 24 hours. Normally that would be fine, but you need to be rested and refreshed for the upcoming trek. You're contemplating going back to sleep, when you look over at Bashir. He's barely sitting up and looks like he's drifting off. Then he sits upright and looks at you.

"Hey," you begin. "You look really tired Bashir. Take a nap. I got this, and besides, you need your rest."

"Alright. But call me Julian." And then he falls asleep. Complete with soft snoring.

You never thought he was your type, but you have to admit he looks pretty cute asleep.