Bajor: Fire! Fire! "
By: Clarice, Orphan , [RNPC]
Jonathan Wright, Executive Officer, [PC]
Margaret Rose MacAlister , Marine CO, [RNPC]
Sister Moira , Clinic Director , [NPC]

Stardate: 58206.28 2130

==Bajor - Kalkyra, Rakantha Province==

Wright crossed the street and ran over to the burning building. Several other also came onto the street. As Wright approached the building a Bajoran man exited. He was coughing and Wright could see severe burns on his arms and face.

"My family. I could not find them," he said, between gasps for air.

"How many," asked Wright.

"Two, my daughters," he replied, still struggling for air.

Madge had followed on Wright's heels and stood listening to the man even as her eyes assessed and studied the building and its structural layout. When she looked back to Wright it was to find him gone.

Wright raced into the burning building, without giving much thought about what he was getting into. Once inside he found the smoke so thick that he could not see his hand in front of his face. He began to cough and dropped to his hands and knees. Wright knew he would not have much time to look around here. He began crawling around searching. The heat from the fire was incredible and the smoke stung his eyes and lungs. "Anyone here," he shouted.

Some of the locals were already starting to form a bucket brigade and Madge took note of this as she raced back across the street to the hospital where she snatched a blanket off the first bed she came to and then raced back to the fire. It was less than a minute and a half before she was following Wright into the burning structure with a soaked blanket covering her and a wet handkerchief tied around her mouth and nose.

"DOCTOR?!?" she shouted as she tried to peer through the smoke. It was no use, she couldn't see a thing. She crouched closer to the floor and moved further into the building. "DOCTOR WRIGHT?!?" she called out again and then strained to hear anything over the roaring of the flames.

Wright continued to shout and feel his way around the smoke filled room. He was mad at himself, he was a doctor not a fireman. Wright continued to curse his bad judgment when he thought he heard something. He was sure of it. He crawled in the direction of the noise. Reaching out into the smoke his had grabbed a hold of another hand. A tiny hand and it weakly grabbed his hand back. Wright could see the two girls now, they were huddled together in the corner of the room. Wright picked up the girls and made his way for the door, only to discover that he was disoriented in the smoke filled house. He was lost. Wright dropped again to his knees where the smoke was less and tried his best to find the door, bringing the girls along with him.

The house was beginning to loose its integrity now as the fire burned through parts of the roof and it started to cave into the floor below. Its added weight put stress on some of the key structural beams that were already burned to the point of collapse.

Outside the bucket brigade was now working furiously to keep the fire from spreading to the nearby buildings while the owner of the house, whose daughters were trapped inside, was struggling to get back and help save them. But Sister Moira had taken charge of the injured man and he'd been moved to the safety of the hospital. A few of his neighbors were continuing to throw water on the front of the burning building in the almost futile hopes that doctor and woman who'd ran inside would reappear with the two young children... alive.

"DOCTOR WRIGHT!!!" Madge shouted again as she made her way further into the burning house. She moved slowly but systematically, using all her training to try and locate the doctor. She kept low to the floor and was having to dodge burning debris as it began to fall.

Wright coughed and he crawled along the floor, bringing the children along behind him. The heat from the fire was getting more intense. Wright was in trouble and he knew it. Parts of the roof timbers began to crack and fall. Wright knew that he did not have much time to get out. He tried to pull the image of the room when he first entered it into his mind. Then, over the roar of the fire he though he heard someone calling him, Wright tried to move the direction of the sound, "Over here," he shouted.

Every few moments she'd pause and listen and during one such time she was rewarded by a sound that was not part of the fiery structure. 'DOCTOR WRIGHT!!" she called out again and steered her progress in the direction of the noise she'd heard. "Keep calling out!! I'm coming!!" She stopped to listen at the same time as Wright stopped crawling for a moment to call out to the other person in the room.

Hearing his voice more clearly now, she continued to move in its direction. The smoke was so thick that it was impossible to see anything and Madge was having to feel her way. "Doct--" she started to call to him again and simply stumbled upon him and the children. "Thank god! We havetae hurry!!" Her voice conveyed the urgency, although it had been an unnecessary reminder and she knew it. Madge had a tendency during times of stress, to point out the obvious. She got close to his face so she wouldn't have to yell over the sounds of the fire. "Put this around yer mouth an' nose," she pulled out a wet rag and literally pushed it into his hands, not taking no for an answer. They both had to hunker over the children when the sound of cracking overpowered the roaring of the flames. The feeling of urgency was spurring them both on now.

The very roof had collapsed over the area they had just come from. Wright knew that the rest of the house was about to come down around them. "Let's get out of here," he said, handing one of the children to Madge, "You lead the way." Wright picked up the other child.

MacAlister took the child and encouraged her to wrap her arms and legs around her and hang on. She also told her to keep her face buried against her shirt and handed Wright one edge of the blanket. "Let's be off then..." she nodded to him and began retracing her steps. There were no visual landmarks to navigate by and Madge was totally having to rely on her memory as she led the way.

Wright held tight to the second girl and followed along closely behind MacAlister so that he did not get separated from her. The smoke stung his eyes and his lungs ached for fresh air. The fire still burned with great intensity. Wright could hear the roof start to crack and groan. Finally, after what seemed like hours to Wright, they emerged though the doorway and out into the Bajorian night.

Madge started coughing as soon as she stepped foot out of the burning house. Her gaze traveled over Wright and the girl he carried as she urged them all further away from the burning structure.

Wright had a coughing fit as the clean air hit his lungs. He took several more deep breaths . Wright glanced at the little girl he held, she was still breathing. "Let's get to the clinic," said Wright as he crossed the street.

"Right," Madge nodded and followed behind him. She couldn't feel if the child she held was breathing or not and didn't take the time to check, knowing that if she wasn't, the few extra seconds for them to get to the clinic would likely be more beneficial than not.

Sister Moira was waiting for them at the door. She took the little girl Wright was holding and everyone followed her into the main room of the clinic. Here, there were several beds, including one occupied by the father of the girls.

Moira set the girl on a bed and indicated to MacAlister to put the other one down on the next bed.

MacAlister did as instructed and laid the young girl on the bed, her hands and eyes scanning the poor thing to see if there was anything she could do. She knew advanced first aide, but that was the extent of her training in that area.

"We do not have many supplies Doctor," said Moira.

Wright suppressed another cough and looked at the girl MacAlister had carried. Like her sister, she was also breathing, "I figured as much, I brought some with me. They are in my bag."

"I will get it," said Moira as she quickly left the room.

Wright picked up an old battered tricorder that he had left here and scanned the girl. She had very poor oxygen transfer. Wright turned around and examined her sister. This little one had much the same problems.

"They're such wee little bairns," Madge smiled encouragingly at the child she'd carried and smoothed her hair back from her head as Wright examined her.

"Are they..", asked the old man his voice cracking in anxiety.

"They will be ok," Wright assured him.

"Thank the Prophets," he replied and relaxed on his bed.

Moira returned with a brown leather bag and handed it to Wright.

Wright opened it up and removed a hypospray and several vials. Wright began administering medication to both girls. Something to boost their oxygen capacity and something for the pain. They did not have the convenience of modern surgical equipment here, so the damage to their lungs would have to heal naturally. Wright scanned them again, satisfied, he went to work on their burns.

As the Sister and Wright worked on the two children, Madge stepped back out of the way. "Dinnae worry," she told the father, giving him an encouraging smile. "They know what they're aboot. They'll have yer bairns up in no time."

The father simply nodded to Madge but his eyes watched his children intensely.

Wright and Moira worked slowly and patiently to repair the burns on the little girls. "Your girls are young," Wright said to their father, "They will recover quickly."

"I am glad for that," he said, "It is a good thing that you returned to us Doctor".

"What happened tonight?" asked Wright as he turned his attention the man's burns. Wright scanned him and found his most pressing problem to be the burns to his face and hands.

"It was the young ones," he said with a wince of pain as Wright examined his arm.

Wright picked up a dermal regenerator and went to work on his left arm, "The young ones," he asked.

"Lyrr Tirex," he said, "He demanded that I pay him for protection. I refused."

Wright searched his memory, he could not remember a boy named Lyrr, "I do not remember him." Wright began working on his other arm.

"He is new to the village," replied Moira, "He is the same person we were talking about with," she paused, "Clarice."

MacAlister had been quietly listening and observing the doctor and Sister as they worked She'd retrieved her backpack and had even managed to clean most of the black soot from her face and hands. "I believe she said he had a 'gang'," MacAlister added helpfully. "Do ye ken how many there are?" she addressed the father.

"It's hard to say," he replied, "Most of them are orphans. Some of them are just babies."

"Babies?" MacAlister blinked and then a very expressive frown marred her brow.

Wright finished, "There, almost good as new," he said with a smile. Wright extended his hand, "I'm John Wright."

"Syries Jess," said the man shaking Wright's hand, "Those are my daughters, Mira, and Tira," he gestured to the sleeping children, "We owe you and your friend a huge debt."

"Think nothing of it," said Wright, "I am pleased that everyone is going to be alright."

"If ye dinnae mind me asking.... How long has this been going on?" Madge asked. "Is there nae an orphanage here for the wee ones that've lost their families?"

"It started not too long after Doctor John left," said Moira, "The past few months have been the worst."

"Have the authorities been notified," asked Wright.

"Yes," said Jess, "but Bajor has a lot of places with need. They say they will get to it when they can."

Wright shook his head. "You and your family can stay here for now," said Wright. He wondered if it would be all that safe here. The situation made him sad. This had been such a peaceful place when he had left. Wright turned his attention to Madge, he help up a tricorder and gestured towards an empty bed, "You're next."

Madge blinked and eyed him. "Ach, there's nae need doctor. I'm fine. Ye should have Sister Moira take a look at ye though," she said. "Ye had more exposure than myself."

"I will do just that, after I take a look at you," he said, "If you are not hurt it will take just a second."

"I have nae a thing against ye personally, doctor," she told him as she continued to eye him and reluctantly moved to the bed. "We even have a medic on our team," she told him. "But I dinnae like being.... Scanned..." she admitted.

"To be honest neither do I, however, sometimes it is necessary," said Wright, "I just want to make sure you are alright." There was not much else Wright could do, she did have the right to refuse his care. He looked her in the eyes and waited for a reply.

MacAlister met his gaze and several pregnant moments passed before she nodded and stretched out on the bed. "Do yer worst then," the twinkle in the depths of her blue eyes was easy enough for him to see. "I miss the cold stethoscope and the warm fingers taking my pulse," she told him, quite honestly. "It should be more personal," she told him. "When a doctor learns all yer secrets, that is..."

Wright wondered if she ever really had seen a stehoscope before as he fired up his tricorder. To his surprise MacAlister was in very good shape. Her lungs showed s slightly diminished capacity, however, that was to be expected. This marine was in top shape. Wright took note of seveal healed injuries, to her right wrist and forearm, her left ankle, "You are in very good shape. Do you have any pain?"

"A little tightness in my chest," she admitted. "But 'tis to be expected after being in a fire. Nothing that won't go away by morning."

Wright closed his tricorder just as Clarice climbed in a window. She was giggling quietly.

"Where have you been Clarice," asked Wright.

"Don't call me that," she protested.

Wright siged, "I'm sorry," he said with mock sincerity, "Hey YOU! where have you been?"

Clarice giggled again, "I have been following Lyrr and his friends around. He is worried about you two," she gestured towards Madge and Wright, "I love it when he is worried," she said with a big smile, " It makes me want to giggle."

"Why is he worried about us," asked Wright.

"Becasue," she said with another giggle, "He knows you are both Maquis. He does not want the Maquis to ruin is action."

"I can imagine he wouldnae like that," Madge agreed as she sat up and looked at the young girl. "What do ye want tae be called then, if not Clarice? 'Tis a pretty name," Madge added.

"Sister calls me child," she said, "Lyrr calls me," she paused, "well, I do not really have a name."

Madge's brow arched. "Have ye ever had one?"

"I like to think that my mother gave me one before she died," said the girl, "I don't know what it is if she did."

That pulled at the Marine's heartstrings. "Ahhh... What was her name then?" Madge asked.

The girl just shrugged.

"Well and now I'm sure she gave ye a name," Madge smiled at her and actually reached out to give a lock of her hair a playful tug. "Since ye dinnae know it, I think t'would be okay tae be called a name ye'd like. Do ye have a favorite?"

She crossed her arms in front of her chest, "I will be accepting no name unless it is given by my parents."

Wright chuckled, "We have been through this before," he said, "She is a stubborn child."

"Yes, but you love me anyway," she said and walked out of the room.

Madge laughed softly and watched her go before looking back to Wright. "Aye, tis a stubborn lass she is tae be sure," she agreed with him. "She needs parents."

Wright sighed, "Indeed she does."