"A Diagnostic Partnership: Medical & Science"
Posted on 16 Feb 2026 @ 5:30pm by Lieutenant Commander Claire Dunross MD & Lieutenant Commander Riah Amberlyn XMD & Lieutenant Commander Adrian Sorvak
903 words; about a 5 minute read
Mission:
Silent Inheritance
Location: Science Labs :: Cmdr Sorvak's office
Timeline: After issues of vaccine failure appear on Lathira
// Science Department :: USS Arawyn //
The doors to the Science department parted with a softer tone than those in Sickbay. The lighting shifted immediately, cooler and more precise, designed for clarity rather than comfort.
Claire stepped through beside Amberlyn without hesitation.
She had not always belonged exclusively to Medical. There had been a stretch aboard the Vindicator where she had traded biobeds for lab benches, virology briefings for cellular modeling matrices. Long enough to earn her second doctorate.
Long enough to remember what it felt like to chase a question for its own sake.
The scent of sterilized glass and energized circuitry was familiar. Comforting, in its own quiet way.
Her gaze moved instinctively across the layout. Primary holo-table centered. Spectrographic analysis stations along the starboard wall. Environmental simulation pods further aft. Efficient. Ordered. Vulcan.
Claire adjusted the padd at her side, posture straight but at ease. She was not here as an outsider requesting assistance. She was here as a colleague crossing disciplines.
Amberlyn slowed slightly ahead of her, signaling their approach to the lab’s senior officer.
Claire’s expression remained composed, but there was a faint sharpening to her eyes. This was where answers would either begin… or refuse to.
She inclined her head respectfully toward Commander Sorvak as Amberlyn moved to make the introduction.
Claire waited.
"Commander Sorvak. This is Dr Claire Dunross, our new Assistant CMO. Dr Dunross: Commander Sorvak, Chief Science Officer."
"Doctor Dunross, Dr. Amberlyn," Sorvak nodded in greeting at both doctors.
"You mentioned a medical issue on the planet?" he asked, gesturing them towards his office.
Sorvak waited for his guests to sit before he took his own seat. "How can I help you?"
"We have an outbreak of Novaryn-C in a random group of children under age 10 on particular province on Lathira IV, which includes Kestrel Reach and two other smaller cities. They were all vaccinated but the vaccine is apparently losing its effectiveness for some reason. We are doing our due diligence to check with Starfleet Medical in case it is more widespread, but that does not appear to be the case. It is centered on Lathira IV. We are pulling blood samples from about half our crew, who were down there on shore leave, as a baseline, and none of our people so far seem to be affected. But then samples from the adults on Lathira IV are asymptomatic as well. The children are not responding as expected to anti-viral therapy, and are beginning to show signs of neurological involvement, which is what makes Novaryn-C so deadly.
"We are asking you to assign a Science team to run separate testing protocols on these same samples, and see if somehow you are able to identify anything we are missing. Do you have anything to add, Dr Dunross?" asked Riah, turning to Claire.
Claire folded her hands lightly before her.
“With the limited sample we have, the pediatric cases are the only ones demonstrating active symptomology,” she said evenly. “If we determine why they are uniquely vulnerable, that may give us the key to formulating a treatment protocol that is actually effective.”
Sorvak steepled his fingers in front of him and listened silently. "Doctor, you mentioned the adult samples are asymptomatic. Do any of them show signs of the virus?"
Riah nodded. "A small group of our crew do show evidence of nucleocapsid antibodies, but most do not, which is to be expected if the vaccine is destroying the invasion immediately. In addition, we've not passed the 3 week time threshold for the virus to sufficiently populate, build and present an antibody reading. Some of the adults on the surface, however, do show the development of readable antibody populations."
“Curious," Sorvak responded. "What have you found so far in comparing the various samples?"
“The viral drift we’ve identified is minimal,” Claire added. “I would ask that Science focus specifically on the samples where the vaccine response appears to be degrading.”
Her gaze held steady.
“If we can isolate what is interfering with vaccine stability, we may understand why the immune protection is failing in that subset.”
"We have been testing a new anomaly model. Running the samples through it may prove useful," Sorvak said.
"That sounds promising. Tell us more," said Riah, looking from Sorvak to Dunross and back.
Sorvak cleared his throat. He hesitated slightly before continuing. "We have not yet managed to find a good set of input data. Your antibody readings may offer a cleaner input set that will allow the model to isolate the anomalous variables."
He considered the two doctors. "I will have Lt Quinn head the team from our side. Who will serve as your primary liaison?”
“I will,” Claire answered without hesitation.
“I’ve worked cross-discipline before. If your anomaly model requires refined biological inputs, I can adjust parameters in real time.”
A faint narrowing of her eyes.
“And if there is an environmental co-factor degrading vaccine integrity, I would very much like to see how your model isolates it.”
Sorvak inclined his head. “As would I, Doctor. Please keep me informed of any significant developments. I will brief Lieutenant Quinn. She will coordinate with you immediately.”
"Thank you so much for your time, Commander. And the access to your resources and expertise," Riah said.
=/\=
Lt Cmdr Adrian Sorvak
Chief Science Officer
LtCmdr Claire Dunross
Asst Chief Medical Officer
LtCmdr Riah Amberlyn, XMD
Chief Medical Officer
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