The Accident
Life on board the Quest for Knowledge is a challenge. No one had built a ship to travel for almost a year one way, some time for exploration, and then another year back. This was, by far, the farthest crewed journey into Deep Space.
While there is a spinning habitation ring, it only provides some gravity, roughly half that of Halcyon’s. Much of the engineering and storage spaces on the ship are in the central core that does not rotate, so it’s at zero-g. There are a lot of tight spaces, and odd nooks and crannies crammed with important equipment ‐ like Security Officer Struve’s and Archaeologist Barnard’s not-regulation still for brewing hooch.
Accidents are bound to happen. Doctor Kruger’s infirmary is well-stocked, and prepared for nearly any emergency. On a journey like this, there are bound to be scrapes and minor cuts. Adaptation to zero-g is difficult for some, requiring anti-nausea meds. Bumps and bruises happen all the time. The ship is noisy, which can make sleep difficult.
Engineer Lalande is a common visitor to the infirmary. They are always tweaking the engines. Most of the time, those improvements work. Unfortunately, they frequently don’t, setting off alarm klaxons throughout the ship, to the annoyance of everyone else. Engineer Lalande usually ends up in the infirmary, with serious burns and deep cuts.
Space is hard and unforgiving. Archaeologist Barnard was doing maintenance near the science lab, when a gasket failed, causing an explosive decompression. Though injured, they’d almost clawed their way to safety when a flying oxygen tank clipped their head, knocking them out. Security Officer Struve was closest, and dragged them through a pressure door, sealing off the leak behind them. Archaeologist Barnard was rushed to the infirmary, with assistance from Linguist Groombridge.
Doctor Kruger took one look at their lover’s injury and knew it was a bad situation. They managed to remain calm and call for Science Officer Ross’ assistance. With that aid, Doctor Kruger’s expertise was equal to the task of stabilizing Archaeologist Barnard. In low gravity, getting the wounds under control was messy and hard, with bodily fluids slowly drifting in curved paths to the deck, getting into a lot of places they shouldn’t have. Archaeologist Barnard lost a lot of blood, making a transfusion necessary. A quick check of the medical records showed that Captain Van Maanen was a match. Of course the Hero was willing to donate blood to help their crew member.
It’s hardly short of miraculous that Archaeologist Barnard was back on duty only a week later.