Five days after the battle on New Canada, that could have easily left Paul dead, Paul was now back on duty with the hefty task of finding out who the Son'a had allied themselves with. However, he had some of the most advanced equipment at his disposla to do so with. Supply Base 901, was definately not short on equipment when it came to science. The Science lab itself was cavernous, easily the size of a pair of cargo bays. In it was just about every concievable piece of scientific technology.
Paul got up from his work station and walked over to the biobed where the body of one of the recovered aliens lay. Dr. Cherrin was busy poking round performing an autopsy.
"Found anysing yet doc?"
"Physiologically, they are a lot like Selay"
"Selay?"
"You've not heard of them... they were at war with the Anticans a while back..."
"Ahh oui, I seem to remember somesing about zat. So what does zis mean? Zat zey are realatives to ze Selay?"
"No, I don't think so. They may have a similar anatomy, but that is due to the fact that they are reptilian as well. If you look at the DNA structure, it is far more complex than that of Selay." said Cherrin taking Deveraux over to a view screen. "In fact, they have some of the most complex DNA I have ever seen."
"So, no idea where zey come from yet?"
"The only information I can really give is the type of planet they come from."
Cherrin walked back over to the alien and began poking around inside
again.
"What are you doin?"
"I'm seeing what is in this fellows digestive system. This will tell us what food he has eaten recently and will help us get some idea of what type of plant or animal life they have on their planet."
"How long will zat take?"
"Well, I'll have to run it through the computer for analysis, about 10 minutes?"
"OK, well I'll leave you to it zen mon amis. I'll start goin over some of zis other information that we ave. Call me if you need me"
"Will do"
Paul walked over to his work station again and started reading over the information all the information Starfleet held on the Son'a hoping that it may throw up something new. Unfortuanately not.... Since the Son'a encounter by the Enterprise E, nothing was heard from the Son'a until SB901 was constructed.
"Paul, I have something" called Cherrin
"What is it?"
"About their habitat, they come from a planet certainly rich in plant life, ther are at least 20 different plant species present in his system. I can't tell you anything about the animal life as this species is clearly herbivore. I would say that they come from a wet densly forested planet or area of a planet, much like the tropical rainforests of Earth. His skin, is made of a substance that allows it to control heat..."
"Doc, enough... are you sure zat zey come from zis type of planet?"
"Positive."
"Zen zats all I need to know. Come over ere a moment will you?"
"Of course, what is it?"
"I could do with a hand examining zis weapon" said Deveraux taking Alistair over to a work surface with one of the alien weapons layed out on the surface. "I ave examined all crew members zat were shot by zis, and there iz definately some sort of biological agent in ze weapon. I'm sure you picked up on it too while treating ze injured?"
"I did"
"Did you find out anysing about it?"
"I actually did some research into this. he Biological agent is a viral contaminant that slowly eats away at the imune system of the victim. From what I can tell, it is not meant to act straight away, but lay dormant for days, even months! If it wasn't for the transporter filters picking them up when we beamed back up here, I doubt I would have found out about it until it was too late."
"Too late? Iz zis sing lethal?"
"It certainly is a nasty little virus. The simulations I performed show that it will completely break down a subjects immune system within a few days leaving them vulnerable to any infection. Even something as simple as the common cold would be fatal under these circumstances."
"How does it work exactly?"
"Well, the virus enters the patients blood stream and attacks the white blood cells. It reproduces by consuming the dead blood cell. As it multiplies, it will consume more, eventually. The body will not be able to produce enough white blood cells fast enought to stop a contamination."
"OK, doc, I want you to work on a way to try and prevent zis virus taking effect. I'm gonna scan ze star charts for any planets with a tropical climate. See if we can work out where zese bastards come from!"
Alistair and Paul got to work on their respective assignments.
Three hours later the two officers had assembled all the information they could and strode confidentlly up to Captain Wallaces office to present their report.
"Come in" called Wallace from the other side. Paul and Alistair stepped through the door and walked up to Wallaces desk. "That was quick work gentlemen... what have you got for me?"
"Just about everything but a name mon amis. We know where theyre home planet iz. We also know roughly what to expect with zem in a combat situation."
"We assume that they are a pretty agressive species. The specimins we had examined show evidence of a vast amount of scarring on the body, as well as evidence of numerous fractures and breaks in their bones. By looking at this, I'd say their worse then Klingons or even Clanoth or Nausicans when it comes to fighting."
"As well as zat Captain, we also found a nasty little surprize in seir weapons. Zey use a biological agent, which may lay dormant for months, but will certainly kill you once activated. Fortuanately, Doctor Cherrin, has formulated a treatment for zis."
"It's relly quite simple, we just give the person a stimulant to produce more white blood cells than normal. This way, there will be enough to kill off the initial onslought of the virus, which kills off the white blood cells."
"Well done gentlemen, thats some astounding research considering what you had to go on. Now, the piece of information I am really interested in is... where do they live?"
Deveraux pulled round the table top computer on Wallaces desk and brought up a star chart of the briar patch area.
"Feel free to use my computer Lieutenant!" said Wallace sarcastically. Cherrin just shook his head and smirked.
"Ere! Zis planet. It is in a system that was passed by a science vessel a few moths ago. Zey didn't collect any information on ze system as zey didnt ave time, but it is ze only planet around with a climate matching what zese aliens are used to. It is a high possibility zat they could live there"
"Thank you Lieutenants."
"Captain, will we be taking ze Arizona there?"
"It all depends on what Starfleet want to do..." said Wallace walking over to the window and looking down on the planet.