OOC: This all happened immediately after the Medical Bay incident . .
. previous to what his happening now . . .sorry it has taken me a bit
to get it done.

ON:

<Morganth’s Quarters, Starship Republic>

Reittan entered his friend’s quarters cautiously; the lights were
dimmer in the room than in the corridor. As his Dark Vulcan-like eyes
adjusted to the darker environment, he scanned the room and noticed
the quarters were in complete disarray; furniture was turned over and
clothing was strewn across the room leaving the abode in utter chaos.

Reittan spied a PADD walked over to the tablet shaped object that had
been left in the mess. With a couple of quick taps to the PADD it
came to life then flickered and faded, then came to life again..

Lt. Cmdr. Tolkath began scanning the PADD with interest. With his
access code over-ride he was able to access Morganth's personal
entries since the day the Republic had left Deep Space Nine abruptly
to five days ago when they had suddenly ceased. Looking over the
information, he gathered up the PADD, and righted an overturned table.
Reaching for a stool that lay nearby, the Counselor placed the tablet
shaped object on the table top. Tolkath had learned that even the
smallest detail could lead to the correct answer to the current
conundrum, so he began reading the journal entries from the beginning.

Morganth's voice filled Tolkath's mind, "Day one aboard the USS
Republic. I am not sure why I have been detained aboard this vessel;
it was a very abrupt emergency departure. The day started out very
nicely, the Tolkath's were gracious enough to allow me to come aboard
the ship with them to see Reittan. It will be good to see him again.
However, on our way to the Counseling Center, I gazed on one of the
most beautiful women I have ever seen. Her eyes, the way she carried
herself made me feel like a boy back in Betazed when I had the crush
on Jemma in the second grade."

Reittan looked up and laughed in spite of himself; Morganth had been
definitely love struck with her.

Morganth's log continued," I lost track of time because we were having
a pleasant conversation, then everything erupted. I didn't have time
to get off the ship. I can only hope Reittan's family will inform my
family about what has happened, because we have been put on radio
silence. . ." Morganth's voice continued onward, but that information
had answered why Tolkath's friend was aboard the ship; to see him.

Morganth's log continued onward with daily events, and meetings with
the Lieutenant Xera Reisan, and his infatuation with her. Their
voyage had also allowed him sometime, while the Lieutenant was on
duty, to engage in his favorite past time; botany.

Reittan remembered that Talloc was always, even as a child, engrossed
with some type of plant and with his talent had resurrected much
vegetation. Everyone thought that he would become a great botanist,
but that dream took second to his current occupation.

Reittan glanced around the chaotic room and saw Morganth's latest
creation laying on the floor; Talloc often manipulated plant DNA and
its subatomic structure to create new plant varieties. Through his
doctoring of the plant's sub cellular makeup he was able to create
many wonderful new classifications of plants that had the ability to
propagate themselves; many types of these "engineered" plants lost the
ability to reproduce with their inception. On Betazed, many people
frowned on the genetic manipulation of plants, in favor of holistic or
"natural" varieties.

Lt. Commander Tolkath reached out and grabbed the plant's container.
He then attempted to steady the plant with his opposite hand only to
be pricked by one of the magnificent purple thorns. Reittan jerked
back his hand instinctively, but maintained his grip on the pot-like
structure with the other. Tolkath placed the plant down and examined
the wound. A purple thorn protruded from the wound, after removing
the thorn, a drop of blood formed over the puncture wound and Reittan
absent-mindedly stuck the wounded finger in his mouth.

Tolkath decided he had seen enough for today and was going to take the
PADD back to his office to re-process the journal logs, when he
noticed that he was starting to get a headache. Instinctively he
thought of ignoring the pain, but his gut raction that had served him
very well in the past, suggested that he go to sickbay. Tolkath
didn't recall how he got there, but the thorn lay in the palm of his
hand as the Counselor entered sickbay.

Dr. Harris was the first to meet him, her demeanor change from a
pleasant demeanor to a worried expression on her face. "Counselor?"
She already knew part of the answer to the answer she was going to
ask, the Counselor's biorhythms were abnormal.

"I have a slight headache," Reittan began, but then concluded. "But,
it's getting worse, but strangely euphoric."

The Tolkath started noticing that his ability to think logically was
beginning to get greatly inhibited. With one last push of thought,
the answer became evident. The thorn. As the realization dawned on
him, he quickly thrusted the thorn towards Dr. Harris, then blacked
out.

Already tapped into the computer's sensor system, Sharon had
previously had called for assistance for the ailing Counselor, and had
him placed on a gurney. Medical bay suddenly came to life with medical
personnel surrounding the bed where Reittan lay.

The sensors displayed what Dr. Harris had hoped/feared for: cortisone
levels elevated and were continuing on to reach toxic levels.

"I need a hypospray of corticotropin! Stat!" Shannon commanded in her
Australian accent to the attending nurse. A hypospray appeared and
Shannon quickly calculated the necessary dosage. Pressing the
hypospray to the Counselor's neck, it hissed and the battle over
Tolkath's cortisone levels began. "Make sure to watch the amount of
copper-levels in his blood . . . he is part Vulcan after all. It
should give us another indicator as to what is happening."

Regulating the cortisol levels was just buying time while the deeper
roots to the problem could be solved. Shannon gave orders to the
frequency and dosage of the hypospray to be administered, then left
with the brilliant purple thorn in her hand.

Shannon stared at the thorn, studying it using all of the sensors
available in Medical Bay. She then cross-referenced all material
available to her aboard the Republic in the Star Fleet database; a
pattern emerged.

*****

Leon looked at Dr. Harris fascinated by the implications of this
purple thorn's magic. "It's comparable to an allergic reaction of the
brain?"

"Exactly. Instead of a histamine reaction, it's cortisol. The
Counselor is doing fine now and has returned to his quarters, despite
his protests to remain with his friend. The only reason we can think
of that Mr. Talloc has had as much damage to his brain as he did is
because of his constant contact with the plant; which has been put
under quarantine."

Leon scratched his chin as he listened to Dr. Harris' report.

"We've begun repair on the myelin sheathing in Mr. Morganth's brain.
There has been a lot of damage, but the process looks promising. He'll
be out of surgery within an hour."

******
Morganth was alone with Reittan in his section. Tolkath who looked at
his friend pitifully.

"I don't look that bad, do I?" Talloc verbally asked half-smiling
while laying in his bed. Morganth's pre-frontal cortex still lay
hauntingly black on the bio-screen above him. The Lt. Commander
couldn't take his eyes off of the darkened image.

Morganth had been in a medically induced coma for the past few days
while the effects of the surgery were being studied. He had been awake
only fifteen minutes when his Counselor-friend had arrived. (Reittan
would have been the moment he was awakened, except one of the officers
with a histrionic personality had hindered his progress.) All of the
bio scans and cognitive functioning batteries appeared normal; only
some problems with short term memory.

"Reittan," Morganth began with a new-found empathy for his friend,
"Was it like this every time for you? Deafeningly silent? Empty? A
holographic program? Icily still?"

Reittan looked at Tollac and nodded in affirmation. "But it beat the
madness . . . I guess." The emotional scars of years past flickered
in the Counselor's eyes briefly, then were gone.

Dr. Harris came to Morganth's bedside and pulled out a hypospray from
her pocket.

"Are you ready?" she asked Morganth Tollac.

"Very." came his reply.

Sharon pressed the hypospray to his neck. With a hiss a warm blanked
of noise and life entered Talloc's mind. Morganth looked at his Dr.
and a puzzled look appeared on his face.

"Uh Reittan,. . . I'm not sure that stuff is working right. . ."



Lt. Commander Reittan Tolkath, PhD.
USS Republic
Ship's Counselor