Chapter 12: Discovery and Planning

The transport tube doors opened and they stepped out into the hallway outside of the medical bay. Turning she led them down the short corridor and into the medical section. Molly was helping a young man to sit up in his bed as they entered. She was holding a glass in her hand. Once the patient had taken a drink from the glass, she set it down on the table.

"Molly, I have some guests for you," Tammy said.

"Be right there, Tammy." Looking at the young man she said, "Lieutenant Myers, you're going to feel a little weak, for a little while. We had to do some DNA changes on you, you had Parkinson disease in your genes, but now you will never have it. Just sit here, and drink this glass of orange juice. You will feel better in a little bit."

Jeffery started to shake his head and felt like every inch of his body ached, and replied, "Yes, Ma'am. I think I will sit here. I haven't felt like this since 'Hell Week', during training. I don't know what you did, but I do feel different."

Patting the young Seals shoulder, she said, "Drink, I will check on you in a few minutes."

Turning as he started to drink the O.J., she walked over to Tammy.

"What's up, Captain?"

Smiling at her friend she said, "Molly, this is General Polk. He has come to check on his men, and I thought you should check them all out for any medical problems, first."

"You're correct. That is a good idea." Turning to General Polk, she continued. "General Polk, I am Doctor Molly O'Neil. Welcome to the Washington. Now that you are here, you are in my tender hands.

"As you can see around me, your Seals are getting some of the best medicine that can be given. We have cured cancer, destroyed tumors, cured disease that would have destroyed some of the young men like Lieutenant Jeffery Myers over there. He would have eventually developed Parkinson disease and would have wasted away with it."

Lesley listened in surprise and said, "Wow, you people are so cool."

Molly looked at the young girl and smiled at her. "Why, thank you. I am Molly," she said as she held out her hand.

Lesley took the hand and shook it, as she replied, "I'm Lesley Collins, this is my mom, Nancy, and that's Corporal Michelle Lewis who really likes my grandfather even if she won't say anything."

Molly heard the gasp, looked up at Corporal Lewis, and saw the blush came to her cheeks as General Polk looked at her in surprise. "And how do you know that Lesley?" she asked.

Lesley giggled, and said, "She looks at Grandpa just the way Daddy looks at Mommy. But those stupid rules that say Officers cannot date Enlisted stop them from going anywhere."

"Out of the mouths of babes, the truth shall be known. Well, that is something they will have to work out, and you have just totally embarrassed them both. I think you owe them an apology," Molly said as she released the girl's hand.

Lesley looked at her Grandfather and Michele. "I'm sorry Grandpa, Michelle. "It's just that I have been watching everything I could on this ship, and I was hoping you two could be together here, if not in Washington D.C."

Richard knelt, pulled his granddaughter into a hug, and said, "It's okay, Sweetie, you just caught me by surprise on this. I am sure Michelle feels the same way."

Molly watched for a second and then said, "Okay, who wants to go first?"

Michelle stepped up. "I will go first, that way if anything happens to me, the General will be safe."

Molly looked at the brave woman and replied, "Nothing is going to happen, and this is just a health check. So go ahead and lie down on one of the beds." Molly watched the young woman lie down and then she continued. "Now I am going to activate a force field, it's going to do a detailed scan of your body. If anything is wrong, the diagnostic will tell me about it. Any questions Michelle?"

Michelle thought for a second, and asked, "What if you find something?"

Molly smiled down at the nervous woman. "Well, I can cure it if you want me to. Now I am going to start the scan." Molly stepped back and said, "Bed seven, full body scan, highlight medical problems."

A beam of light scanned over the bed and above the bed, a full image of the woman appears. Only three red spots show up.

Molly looked at the scan, and said, "Michelle, the scan said you have a cyst forming on one of your ovaries that could prevent you from having a child, and a small cancerous lump on your left breast, and finally you have a small cavity forming. Would you like me to heal them?"

Michelle lay there in surprise and nodded her head, and replied, "Yes, please."

"Close your eyes and just relax, I am going to release some nanobots into your body to heal you." Molly walked back to the bed and said, "Now breathe normally you will feel a tingling and then it should take about fifteen minutes to heal you."

"Okay, doctor." Michelle took a deep breath and slowly let it out while letting her mind wander.

Molly looked at the woman and said, "Bed seven, release nanobots for healing of cancer, the removal of the ovarian infection and dental repair."

The bots flowed out onto the bed and went to work on the damages to the woman. Turning back to Tammy and her guests she said, "It's going to take about ten more minutes, to fully clean out her system. To do a DNA repair, it would take anywhere between fourteen to twenty-four hours."

Richard looked down at his Aide, back to the doctor, and asked. "What do you mean by a DNA repair?"

Molly pointed to the young man drinking the juice and said, "Well, your Navy Seal over there had the gene for Parkinson's disease in his system, it's not fully cured yet, the bots are still working in him to remove all traces of it. But for now, they can do the minor adjustments while he is awake and walking around, but in a few days it will be as if his body never had it."

Richard looked at the Seal sitting there and back at the Doctor and shook his head in amazement, as he said, "Your medicine is so far advanced compared to ours. You could make a fortune selling it."

Molly smiled at the General, "Yes, I could, but then I would be in violation of the Federation law that offers free medical to all who need it. Besides who needs money when you are a member of the Federation? Let me show you what I mean." Looking at Leslie, she said. "Lesley, what's your favorite animal?"

Lesley quickly said, "I like the Bengal tiger, I think they are so beautiful, especially the white ones. Why?"

Molly grinned at the young girl. "You will see! I will be right back." Molly turned and walked away.

Lesley watched the doctor walked away and went to a hole in the wall with a silver pad on it. She said something and a mist started forming on the pad.

Molly walked over to the replicator and said, "Replicator, I want a stuffed toy, white Bengal tiger, make it purr when it is squeezed. Let us make it eighteen inches tall." The machine hummed and a sparkling mist formed, and when it cleared, a stuffed toy was sitting there.

Molly picked the toy up, carried it over to the astonished girl, and placed it in her arms, as she said, "Enjoy."

Lesley looked at the tiger, which looked so real to her. "For me?"

Molly ran her fingers through Lesley's, hair and said, "Yes. Enjoy it, it shall never wear out, and if you squeeze it, it will purr."

Lesley squeezed the stuffed toy and everyone in the group could hear the purr as it started up. Lesley's eyes get big as saucers as she listened to it, and said, "It sounds so real."

Nancy came up behind her daughter and hugged her, and said, "Yes it does, sweetie, now thank the doctor."

Lesley looked up from her toy, and said, "Thank you, doctor."

"You're welcome, Lesley. So who wants to go next?"

Lesley looked at everyone and stepped up, and said, "I will go next."

"You're a brave girl, so follow me to bed eight, and we will set you up." Molly walked over to the bed and turned it on. Turning around she helped Lesley up onto the bed and said, "Now Lesley, this will not hurt you, in fact if anything it will tingle a little. So go ahead and lay back, you can keep your tiger with you."

Nancy came over, looked down at her daughter, and said, "See you in a few minutes, honey."

"Okay, Mom, see you soon."

Molly stepped back from the bed. "Bed eight, full body scan, high-light medical problems."

The scanner came on and scanned Lesley's body. One single red spot came up and it was on her left ankle where the bone was a little weaker.

"Well Lesley, you are a very healthy girl, the only thing I can find wrong with you is your left ankle. Did you injure it somehow?" Molly asked.

Nancy looked at her daughter and said, "She twisted it last month during ice skating practice. They said it was not too bad. I insisted she take a few months off so she would not damage it more. She wants to skate in the Olympics. It's been her dream for years."

"It was a good idea, with proper rest it would have healed as good as new, but without it, it would have snapped. Bed eight, bone repair, left ankle." Molly looked down on the young girl and said, "Lesley, just relax and close your eyes, take a small nap." Stepping back, they watched the girl fall asleep.

"Now, Nancy, it's your turn. So up on bed nine and General Polk you get bed ten."

Molly watched both of them sit on the beds. Nancy laid back on hers, while her father watched his daughter.

Molly activated the beds and checked the scanned. "Nancy, you have some mended broken bones and some old scarring on your back. Where you involved in a car accident?"

"Yes about eleven years ago, I almost died."

"Well, we're going to fix all those bones, make them as good as new. You also have a mild urinary tract infection, and your lungs have some damage from smoking. Let's get all that fixed up for you. Bed nine, initiate healing of mended bone breaks, urinary tract infection, and lung damage. To make her be safe from smoking, initiate anti-nicotine cleansing of patient. Get some sleep Nancy. It's going to take about an hour to heal your bones."

Walking over to the General she said, "Lie down, Sir, they will be okay."

"It's not that I am worried, I was just remembering the accident. She was rushing to the hospital to see her mother, my wife. She died of pancreatic cancer, which had spread to her liver and kidneys, three days later. She never got to say goodbye to her." Richard lay down on his bed, and continued, "Go ahead, Doc."

Molly activated the bed and scanner and it highlighted his weakened heart as Amy had told her. "Sir, your heart has some damage, other than that you are as healthy as an ox, your prostate is a little enlarged and you have excellent cholesterol levels. Your blood pressure has been a little high in the last few days, other than that you are fine." Stepping back from the bed she said, "Bed ten, activate nanobots, minor repair to the heart and prostate, regulate blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Speed up patient's metabolism to help caloric intake. General, you will be out in about fifteen minutes. I will be back. I have to let a few more of your Seals up, so get some sleep for a few minutes."

Molly walked past the rest of them and over to several of the Seals who were now sitting up. Stopping at the replicator, she said, "Two carafes full of Orange Juice and five glasses on a tractor tray." In a sparking mist, the tray appeared and floated over to her, turning with the tray she walked over to the first Seal and said, "Lieutenant Rowlings, how do you feel?"

Don looked at the pretty doctor and realized he felt great, and replied, "I feel great Ma'am. I do not know what you all did to me, but I feel like I am seventeen again."

Handing him the juice, she said, "Well we removed all the shrapnel from your leg, the piece of metal from your chest. Repaired the bones you had broken, and fixed your nose. Do stay out of fistfights if you can. The human nose is not really meant to be hit by a fist. We also fixed your missing teeth, and repaired the loss of hearing in your right ear.

"Now drink this juice. As soon as I check the rest of this group, I will release you back into the capable hands of your guards. Remember Jessica is watching you all, so don't think of trying to take me hostage."

Don blushed as if she was reading his mind, running his fingers through his short hair, he said, "Well, Ma'am, it did cross my mind. But after what your ship's AI did to Commander Hutcheson, I won't even try."

Molly laughed as she saw the blush.

"She's not really an AI, as you know from the trial, she is human and connected to the ship, giving the AI more human-like abilities, but she loves her crew and will protect them, especially the Admiral and his family. Therefore, you should know, I am like family to the Admiral. So behave. I will be back in a few minutes."

Ken sat in his cabin going through the reports of the ship, checking on crew, promoting a few of the shuttle pilots and Mech pilots.

"Amy, please come to my cabin if you're not busy."

Amy materialized in the room and walked over to the desk, "You called, Admiral?"

"Hi, Amy, I have a question for you. What do you think of this General Polk, and the Seals? Also please have a seat."

Amy used a tractor emitter to pull a chair over to her and sat down.