One Night On Starbase 43 (Part 2)

Posted on Sun May 24th, 2026 @ 6:06am by Captain Taiga Aisaka & Lieutenant Commander Nyxala Valentine
Edited on on Sun May 24th, 2026 @ 6:07am

1,720 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Flight Of The Valkyries
Location: Starbase 43
Timeline: March 16th 2397

Taiga seemed so small, laying there on the table, her stomach still distended from the recent pregnancy, but that would reduce until it was barely noticeable naturally. Small and helpless. Blood pressure was still lower than she liked, but reasonable and her breathing was now assisted just for the sake of safety. A dedicated anesthesiologist was present to monitor the sedation levels, not something that she'd have to wing. Nyx smoothly removed the tape from the incision and inspected it to make sure no harm had come to it, "Retractor pressors." She demanded, being handed them and once again opening the incision that she'd made hours before. "Nurse, please remove the packing carefully." The nurse on the opposite side of the table did as she requested, then Nyx settled a few inches over and beckoned Dawn over next to her.

"Pressors." She requested, setting up the internal pressors that would keep the organs off to the side so they didn't remain in the way and the rear abdominal wall was revealed, her prior activities clear in view, "Later on, if we could have someone do a proper repair back there, I was in a bit of a rush. Let's move on to the heart." Her hands moved up towards the upper end of the incision to show where the heart still beat rythmically, if not too fast, the sutures still present.

Dawn stood by the side of Nyx. "There's a little bit of black tissue." She said as she pointed it out. "However, lets give this new autosuture a try. Its a brand new design from Starfleet Medical." She explained as she picked it up off the equipment tray and handed it to Nyx.

"Not yet." Nyx said without shaking her head, "Scalpel." She instructed a nurse before reaching in and starting to cut the sutures she'd made before, plucking them out one by one, "I'll need suction shortly, we're going to have a leak in the ventricular wall. Forceps." She took the proffered instrument in her free hand to separate the cut in the incision, then glanced back up at Dawn, "This is what I was afraid of. Have we gotten any lab results back from the blood samples?"

"Not yet." Dawn replied simply.

The leakage started immediately and a nurse was there to remove it quickly, but Nyx watched the heartbeat and timed it carefully before she again began the process of cutting the dead tissue away from the healthy, bringing it over to a tray that yet another nurse held out for her, "I want these samples taken for analysis. We need to find out why the tissue is still dying and soon, really soon, or else we won't have a choice in the matter." Her eyes told Dawn what she meant.

Dawn nodded. "Get it done." She ordered. One of the nurses rushed off with the samples. Meanwhile Rachel reapproached, so far she had been acting mainly as one of the surgical technicians.

"I have a suggestion..." she said. "What if we tried to regenerate the dying tissue?" she asked.

"That's risky," Nyx stated, "Could it work? Yes. But because we don't know why it's dying, it could have the reverse effect an cause the tissue to die even faster. Until we know better, I believed our best bet is to continue resecting the dead tissue. Believe me, I like it just as much as you do, which is not at all." She smiled up at Rachel, "Would you like to do the honors and make an inspection of the surgical area, see if everything else looks good?"

Rachel nodded and stepped forward, and leant over Taiga. She examined the surgical area and seemed to be concentrating very hard. "I know I'm not as experienced as either of you. But could this be caused by a lack of blood to the affected area. What if there is a clot somewhere?" She asked as she looked up at Nyx and Dawn.

Nyx took a quarter step back, having been watching Rachel for how thorough she was being, and going over the structure of the heart and the vessels within it. That hadn't been something that hadn't occurred to her, despite how simple of a cause to the problem it could be. She keyed a dynamic scan of the heart and waited the seconds before the diagram came up on the holographic image that was above the surgical field and was slowly filled in as continual scans picked up more and more detail. The tiny blood vessels that pulsed as it carried oxygenated blood to the walls of the heart were her sole focus and she watched each one in turn before one pulsed with pressure, then went flaccid with reversing pressure and one finger pointed it out to be highlighted.

The view zoomed in and the microvessel pulsed again, but the blood went nowhere. "I think we may have a winner..." Nyx muttered, "Hypersonic emitter." The device was placed in her hand and she held it out to Rachel, "You found something I missed, Doctor, only seems right that you take care of it. You say you're not as experienced as we are, only one way to catch up, right?"

Rachel took the hypersonic emitter from Nyx. Gently she inserted it and began working. She stuck out her tongue slightly as she concentrated. After a few minutes of silence, Rachel pulled back. She turned to the monitor. "Looks like her blood pressure is stabilizing. And the heart beat is returning to normal." she looked back at Nyx and Dawn. "I would suggest a anticoagulant. Anticorin should do the job. Just until we can make sure there are no more clots. Plus, it'll help with any stress on her circulatory system."

"We can start that as soon as you do some regeneration of her heart tissue, suture the tear and then seal the tear with additional regeneration. The sutures will provide support and dissolve, so no need to remove them." The last was widely known, sure, but one never left such things unspoken in this field. "Closing up after that should be routine."

"Agreed." Rachel said. She returned back to working on Taiga's heart. Now using a surgical regenerator. As she worked her tongue returned to its stuck out position. Her eyes were locked upon her as she gently ran the generator over the affected areas.

She looked up at Nyx. "I've regenerated most of the damaged tissue. However, the rest should naturally heal. Now that we've sorted out the cause, we can leave the body to heal itself once we've closed up." Rachel said. "Do you agree?"

"I concur, Doctor." Nyx gave a smile at how the repairs had gone, "And we can do a full closure, I don't anticipate having to go back in again. Normal protocols, we'll put her in the ICU, bring her out gradually in a few hours, but monitor her closely." She gave a half-shrug, "Once she's out, she's going to want to see her daughter... She didn't get the chance before she crashed the first time."

Rachel nodded. She glanced at her own mother before returning back to Nyx. She pulled back from Taiga. "You have the honours of closing Doctor." She smiled.

"Hmph." Nyx chuckled, "Turnabout's fair play, isn't it?" She let her hands do the work automatically, removing pressors, checking to make sure no damage had been done to the organs before removing the retractors and regenerating the skin as she used the dermal regenerator down the chest and then paused after the final skin damage was healed. "All right, it looks like we're all set here." She backed up and nodded to the nurses, "ICU, six hour watchlist while the sedation wears off on it's own. When she seems ready to wake up, comm me, no matter what."

"Nice work, both of you. Now, may I suggest we all get some rest?" Dawn suggested with a smile. "The other medical staff can make sure she's ok from here."

"A few hours of sleep won't be turned down, not from me, that is." Nyx agreed, "Sleep when you can, always a good idea."

"Come on," Dawn said patting Nyx on her back. "Lets get you to the quarters I arranged for you." she looked back at Rachel. "Rachel, please finish up here."

Rachel nodded. "Got it."

With that said, Dawn guided Nyx away from the operating table. As she guided her through the doors she leant in a little closer. "So. Who knows?" She asked simply referring to her earlier news of the doctors pregnancy.

"The Captain, some of the medical staff, a friend on the ship and strange though it sounds, the Marine CO on the ship. That's it." Nyx replied, understanding the question, "I've resolved to keep it for now... But I may be putting them up for adoption. I'm not sure yet."

"I gather you've had regular examinations....?" Dawn then paused. "Don't tell me you've been running them on yourself?"

"There's only been the one, when Sayo told me I was pregnant." Nyx shook her head, "I'm less than three months along, so there's a long time left to go. Look, I don't know what to expect from myself, I'm scared. I can go into a raging firefight, behind enemy lines with little to no chance of survival and be fine, but this? Terrifies me."

Dawn placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Once Aisaka is stable and out of danger. I want you to come to my office. We'll go through it together. I think you need your own checkup." she explained. "But, for now. A good meal, a good book to relax your mind a little and a good nights sleep. I could always make it an order..." she smirked.

Nyx chuckled in return, "Since when do Marines ever listen to what a swabbie says?" She gave a grin of her own, "But... I'll behave. I won't resist the checkup, I promise."

"Good girl. Now go on, get out of here." Dawn said esentially shooing her.

Posting by:

Captain Taiga Aisaka
Commanding Officer
USS Tokyo

Lieutenant Commander Nyxala Valentine
Chief Medical Officer
USS Tokyo

Also guest starring...

Captain Dawn Pallister
Chief Medical Officer
Starbase 43

Lieutenant Junior Grade Rachel Pallister
Medical Officer
Starbase 43

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