The Toss of a Copper

Posted on Sat Aug 29th, 2026 @ 4:50pm by Lieutenant Commander Deanna Celes & Commander Jonathan Grayson & Lieutenant Commander Callie Raven-Grayson & Lieutenant Kate Kono & Lieutenant James Phoenix & Chief Petty Officer Aaron Geiger

1,883 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Here There Be Dragons
Location: Draco IV

The remaining members of the away team exited the forest once again, and as they did the gargantuan copper dragon let loose a mighty roar before bathing the forest in flame once more, pushing back the green dragon. The flames seemed to be more than the green dragon was willing to deal with, and it slowly retreated deeper into the forest until it was soon out of sight of the away team.

Deanna looked at everyone, then did a double take on Jon. She opened her tricorder once more and scanned him. "That fog was poisonous, and it seems to have some other properties. Your eyes are severely irritated, and you might have additional dermal damage here on your arms."

Aaron looked at the Officers, then back at the forest, then back to their recent ally and their draconic visage. "Hey uh, ma'am or perhaps sir." He started, trying to compose himself. "My job typically on the order of taking care of the small things so that my Commanders can focus on the big picture. Is there a location we can regroup to and take shelter so that they can figure out our next steps?"

Jon nodded at Deanna's statement. "Do we have any eye wash?" he asked as he looked at his arms. "Sam is going to have a field day with me." He observed.

Kate just stood there. She was supposed to pick up the sterile wrapper from the bandages, because you know, littering, but half the forest was on fire so screw it. She watched the little plastic square do a lazy pirouette into a wall of flame that was probably going to turn it into a toxic fume. She hitched her bag up and patted her phaser-rifle like it was a nervous poodle. Aaron had pitched the idea of regrouping to a safe spot and that sounded like it was a five-star spa retreat and not a war zone, and Kate was kinda looking forward to a place to sit down that wasn't actively combusting. Her brain, however, was having a hard time computing the whole "hanging with Grandma's bedtime stories" thing. Especially since said stories were currently in the rummaging around, barbequing each other with what looked like supernatural napalm.

"I have the medkit" Kuzma said as she approached. She opened it up and looked through the supplies. "Here you go commander" she said as she handed the necessary medical device to Deanna. "I'll get the dermal regenerator ready."

Deanna treated Jon's eye irritation. "I think you enjoy getting scolded by Sam."

Jon held still as Deanna treated his eyes. "Trust me. I take no enjoyment in being scolded by Sam. She gets downright vicious in her talks."

“For good reason” Callie added as she watched her husband with concern.

"See? This is what happens. Sam gets all preachy in her talks and Callie joins and before you know it, I'm getting yelled at in stereo." Jon finished by smiling at Callie.

Callie shook her head grinning as she did so. “Are you sure you don’t want to head back to the ship for treatment? We can manage here while you’re gone.”

Deanna just smiled. "Suppose that is a woman's prerogative. Definitely spousal privilege in regard to Callie, and Sam is the CMO. You are hardly the only one she scolds. Yells at the captain regularly."

As Deanna and Callie dealt with Jon, Irwin saw this as a opportunity to attempt to learn more about their copper-colored friend. "Oi, big fella, you mind if I take a closer look at you?"

The dragon looked at Irwin and then leaned down, its face getting quite close to Irwin as it sniffed him, obviously taking in his scent. "You are curious. I respect that. Very well, you may come closer."

Irwin walked up and studied its scaly body before finally feeling them. "Just as the stories. True lightweight armor. Definitely designed to be a bruiser if needed."

“You’ll have to forgive our curiosity” Callie added as she turned to look at their large savior. “Dragons are something of myth and legend where Humans are concerned.”

"At least I am in good company." Jon moaned as Deanna treated his eyes.

Aaron busied himself with programming his tricorder with the life signs of both dragons they encountered. There may be additional variation between individuals of their species, but this was probably the closest he could get outside of getting assistance from one of the science officers. He spent several minutes creating a continuous scan subroutine that would alert him of the other dragon and other similar life signs approaching.

The dragon looked at Callie and Irwin. "Myth. Legend. I suppose for creatures with such a limited lifespan, that makes sense. We do not often venture from this world. We have no desire to leave this world. At some point, your species will feel the same way. But you are still young, and you must explore and learn." The dragon slowly turned, careful not to squash anyone. "I should take you to my lair. You will be safe there."

Kuzma joined the conversation. "Where exactly is your lair?"

"There, in the hills. You'll be safe there" the copper dragon replied.

Phoenix had a concerned expression on his faced. He turned to face the dragon. "Where could we defend your lair from? What other defenses does it have? I understand that it may be safe, but we should be ready for anything?"

"One does not simply enter a dragon's lair. You have nothing to fear" the dragon replied.

James opened his mouth to respond, but stopped himself and gave a nod instead. He didn't like that the dragon was so quick to assume that the lair was that safe, but he felt that saying anything more would be overstepping. There would be time to express his objections to Jon later. Right now, his sole job was to protect the team from anything regardless of the resources that were available to them.

Kate caught up to Ensign Irwin and shook the PaDD in his face until he had no choice but to read it. She stuck her tongue out at him. Irwin's eyes narrowed on the screen. He made a sound like a man who had just bitten into something he had not expected to be sour.

"But we knew it was a toxin anyway. Whatever type of toxin it was doesn't really matter, does it?"

"You can't write tex-mex in a report," Kate said.

Irwin snatched the PaDD out of her hand. "Watch me."

“We appreciate all your help” Callie smiled as she looked up at the dragon. “You are right we do what we can in our lifetimes, some like to explore, others not quite so much.”

"Irwin, Kono. Come here." Jon ordered. When the pair reached him. he took the PaDD from Irwin and read it. "Mr. Irwin." is voice calm and even, "What is a tex-mex toxin? Please explain it to me."

Ensign Irwin stood beside Jon, pulling out a worn medical field guide. With his thick Australian accent, he scratched his head and began to explain.

"Righto, Commanda, what we're dealin' with here is a toxin from a critter a bit like a pufferfish. Now, I know it sounds like Tex-mex, but the proper name's Tetrodot… Do…”

“Tetrodotoxin!” Kate yelled over Irwin's head to correct him with an amused grin in the process.

“… Bloody hard to say, that one. But the effects, mate, they're no joke. This stuff blocks the sodium channels in your nerves, which means it stops your muscles from gettin' any signals from your brain. You start feelin' numb, then paralyzed, and if it gets really bad, it stops your diaphragm from workin' and you can't breathe."

Kate watched from a little way off, an amused smirk tugging at her lips as Irwin continued.

"Now, there's no antidote proper for this one, but the key is to keep the bloke breathin' until the toxin wears off. That means artificial ventilation, mate, and close watchin' of the heart. Sometimes you gotta keep 'em on the drip and make sure their electrolytes don't go outta whack. It's a slow fight, but most folks who get through it come out the other side fine, as long as you don't let 'em croak in the meantime."

Deanna looked at Kate, Jon, and Irwin. It was obvious Jon was trying to straighten the situation out. Kate was being her normal rambunctious self, and Irwin was just being Irwin. But she had gotten word regarding the situation Baldwin was in, and she wanted to correct the ill-informed before further madness ensued that might cause Jon to do something rash. "Not to speak out of turn, but Sam is reporting that Baldwin will recover. She has noted that while the toxin was a neurotoxin, it was not in fact tetrodotoxin, though it was similar. I would like to add that tetrodotoxin does in fact have an antidote, created in 2309 by a Dr. P'Sat of Vulcan. Lastly Commander..." she said as she looked directly at Jon, "Sam wants it known that if you experience any issues, she wants you in sickbay immediately."

"Thank you for clearing that up Deanna." Jon replied before returning his gaze to Irwin. "I never want to see tex-mex in any report you ever do Irwin. Never, that is just sloppy." He nodded "Tell Sam if I have issues, I will beam directly into Sickbay."

"Right-o Commander" Irwin replied.

"We'll get you up to the ship. Sam will get you right as rain" Deanna replied with a smile. "I'd like to keep Callie down here though, give her some more field experience before she takes that exam."

Jon looked at Callie and Deanna through red irritated eyes. "You two sure are in a hurry to send me away. What are you up to?"

“We’re not up to anything” Callie added. “I’m worried about your eyesight, and you should be too.”

Aaron walked over and sat next to James. "Hey sir, I'm building a scan model of the surrounding area of this... lair. Sending you my readings. Did your phaser take any damage back there?"

James took a quick look at his tricorder with the data Aaron sent. "Looks conclusive enough" he reported. There were few spots to defend from; mostly the entrance. This was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing in that they couldn't get spread thin. A curse in that the risk of getting backed into a corner was large, in the rare chance that something tried getting into the lair and the copper dragon was wrong.

The Lieutenant shook off the feeling. He took a glance at his phaser and checked through the settings. "She's intact Chief, besides a few chars and scratches" Phoenix continued.

Jon dematerialized in the standard blue hue, and the dragon took notice. "Interesting. You have learned how to teleport without use of the arcane. Your people have come a long way from the stories we heard of you wearing suits of iron and carrying weapons of wood and steel, with a few sporadic wizards amongst your people."

"Sounds like you speak of Medieval times on Earth. Humans have advanced quite a bit since then" Kuzma noted.


TBC

 

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