Meet Lt. Zariel Sindile, temporarily assigned to Voyager for its rescue mission in the Badlands. Now she's stuck in the Delta Quadrant, her children are at home without her, she has no one to depend on, and her darkest secret is about to be laid ba...
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Stardate 53955.5
"Doctor, what did you find out?"
Zariel was sitting in a meeting of the senior staff in the briefing room, and the Doctor was reporting on his findings, while others prepared to do so as well.
"Captain, the effects are severe for the Vulcans. There was a significant drain on the neuropeptides and neurotransmitters in the brain. The effect was similar on everyone else as well, a neurochemical drain which was measurable. It would also be cumulative; the longer a person is exposed to the effect, the less likely the brain would be to be able to replace the lost neurochemicals, and eventually it would cause a lethal imbalance. The effect is similar to chronic stress on the nervous system, magnified and accelerated thousands of times. However, I can replicate neural inhibitors which would protect the non-Vulcans."
"But not the Vulcans?"
"Captain, the only way to protect them from the more severe effects they experience is the neural inhibitor combined with a Level 10 biogenic field. That's where they all are at the moment, in Sickbay."
"What about the lack of effect on Lieutenant Sindile?"
"Well, Captain, since we still aren't sure why her brain operates the way it does," he let his eyes twinkle at Zariel for a moment, "we aren't sure why she is immune to the effect. I observed no measurable drain in her brain chemistry. Exposure to the psionic field is, for her, potentially unpleasant, but not dangerous."
"Good to know." The Captain turned to Zariel. "Lieutenant: should the effect recur, you have standing orders to move the ship clear and coordinate medical with the Doctor."
"Yes, Captain."
"Harry, what did the detailed scans of the surface show?"
"Captain, the psionic field seems to emanate from a single location. There is no evidence of any life on the planet other than the source of the field."
"It is a life form then?"
"Definitely, Captain."
"Sentient?"
"No way to tell at this point. There is some evidence, structures and such, that would seem to indicate that it wasn't always the sole inhabitant of this moon."
Chakotay asked, "That rock once had life on it?"
Harry walked to the computer console in the wall and pulled up some of his scans. "It appears so. The oldest ruins are concentrated around our epicenter, here," –he pointed to a location not far from the moon's equator- "and the most recent structures are directly opposite from it, but there isn't, geologically speaking, much difference between the ages of the older ruins and the newer ones. It's as though some lethal effect swept across the entire planet in a relatively short period of time."
